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Post-Recession Recovery Still Slow - 5/30/16

The current U.S. economic recovery will celebrate its seventh birthday next month.  But for millions of Americans, the pain endures.  As indicated by writer Ben Leubsdorf, an estimated one in six U.S. workers lost a job between two thousand and seven and two thousand and nine. 

The labor market’s post-recession recovery began in a painfully slow and halting fashion.  Though job growth has picked up in recent years, the scars inflicted on American workers remain apparent, including in the form of diminished earnings. 

Leubsdorf writes for instance that for workers who were displaced between two thousand and seven and two thousand and nine, but re-employed by early twenty ten, the average decline in inflation adjusted weekly earnings was nearly eighteen percent.  The negative impacts of being displaced during a recession can last for years. 

A twenty eleven paper indicates that earnings losses of fifteen to twenty percent after ten to twenty years are possible for many workers.  These workers are also less likely to own a home, suffer higher rates of depression, and may even result in shorter life spans as indicated by a recent study by economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton.   

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.