The US economy has just marked two years of recovery from its worst recession since the Great Depression. But few Americans are celebrating; indeed, most believe that the economy is still in recession. No wonder. Although gross domestic product has recovered to its pre-recession peak, employment has not.
The employment decline during the 2008 recession was more than twice as large as those of previous postwar recessions, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Even if June’s employment report is much better than expected, 14m Americans will remain unemployed and more than 8m will be working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs.
