Business Forecasters See Slide Worsening

Brace yourselves folks. The recession is projected to worsen this year. The country stands to lose a sizable chunk of economic activity in 2009 as consumers pull back. The U. S. jobless rate, now at 7.6 percent, is the highest in more than 16 years and is expected to hit 9 percent this year. It is over 9 percent already in our area and companies are still cutting back and laying off.

These estimates are roughly in line with other recent projections. Some forecasters expect the economy to shrink by 1.9 percent this year, a much deeper contraction than the 0.2 percent dip projected in the fall. If this proves correct, the full-year contraction would be the first since 1991 and would result in the worst economic performance since 1982 when the country had suffered through a bad recession.