Data Show Deeper US Recession, Sharper Slowdown

I've been telling people for a long time: if they admitted how bad things were, too many people might be tempted to go off the grid, which is the only way to shelter yourself from the storm in progress, the eye still approaching. Why does it matter to them that you stay dependent on the grid? Because attached to the grid, you're increasingly dependent, especially as the grid collapses, and you don't bite the hand that feeds. They need to rob you of all your wealth and means to sustain yourself, so that when the grid collapses they, the people who created the crisis, can throw their solution at you. And they won't shove it down your throat; you'll be so desperate at that point that you'll beg them to do something.

CNBC -

The "Great Recession" was even greater than previously thought, and the U.S. economy has skated uncomfortably close to a new one this year.

New data on Friday showed the 2007-2009 U.S. recession were much more severe than prior measures had found, with economic output declining a cumulative of 5.1 percent instead of 4.1 percent.

The report also showed the current slowdown began earlier and has been deeper than previously thought, with growth in the first quarter advancing at only a 0.4 percent annual pace.

The data indicated the economy began slowing in the fourth quarter of last year before high gasoline prices and supply chain disruptions from Japan's earthquake had hit, suggesting the weakness is more fundamental and less temporary than economists had believed.

Read it all.