Its official - US in recession. Worse since post-world war II

National Bureau of Economic Research, which made official on Monday that US in recession since December, 2007. The Cambridge nonprofit, which dates US business cycles and counts the nation's top academic economists among its researchers, said the economy slipped into recession in December, 2007. The last two recessions in 1990-1991 and 2001 lasted eight months each, and only two of the 10 previous post-Depression downturns lasted as long as a full year which are 1981-82 and 1973-75, each lasted 16 months. These two recessions are the longest post-World War II recessions.

Longer than previous ones?
Since there is no indication of end in a downturn, at least - this could last up to the mid of 2009. Which means its 17 months, and it makes this recession the longest since the great depression in 1930. Some say it will continue through the 2009, if that is the case this recession will be the worst recession in the history. Here are the statistics from National Bureau of Economic Research:

Image courtesy of CNN.

Just to remember the Great Depression, from Wikipedia - it was a worldwide economic downturn starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries. It was the largest and most important economic depression in modern history, and is used in the 21st century as an example of how far the world's economy can fall. The Great Depression originated in the United States; historians most often use as a starting date the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday.