Reply #6: more than two quarters of negative economic growth...

[NightWatcher]

that is the definition of a recession. But what is a Depression?
A depression is a severe economic downturn that lasts several years. Fortunately, the U.S. economy has not experienced a depression since The Great Depression of 1929, which lasted ten years.

We are IN a recession and quickly heading for a Depression

http://www.domain-b.com/economy/general/20080307_us_economic.html

The US economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.6 per cent in the October-December quarter, slower than the IMF projection of 0.8 per cent for the whole of the current year.

For the whole of 2007 the US economy is estimated to have grown at an overall 2.2 per cent – already the weakest since 2002.

During the July-September quarter, the economy grew at an annual rate of 4.9 per cent.

US economic growth fell sharply in the last three months of 2007, triggered by a slump in building activity, which fell by 16.9 per cent, the biggest fall in 25 years, as housing prices collapsed.

The slowdown is even bigger than the 1.2 per cent annual growth rate predicted by analysts.

The US economy lost 63,000 jobs in February against 22,000 jobs lost in January. The slowdown could cause a further rise in US unemployment as the economy weakens.

The biggest employment declines were seen in the manufacturing, construction and retail sectors, raising fears that the world's biggest economy is sliding into a recession.

The dollar also weakened against the euro to hit a new record low of 1.540 against the euro and to 2.01 against the British pound.

The US currency also fell below to 102 yen for the first time in three years.