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Chart of the Day
With the recession being declared over, today's chart focuses on the current "economic expansion". Today's chart includes a plot of the average trend in industrial production during the first 24 months of every economic expansion from 1954 to 2000. For comparison, the chart also includes industrial production for the expansion that began in March 1991 as well as the current expansion that began in November 2001. So what does the chart show? The chart suggests that the current economic expansion is anemic at best. It is also interesting to note that industrial production is one of a handful of indicators that the NBER uses to date recessions and the overall trend has been down since July 2002. We'll keep you posted...

Notes:
- NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) is the official arbiter of recessions.
- The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a recession as: "a period of reduced economic activity."