The worst U.S. recession since the 1930s was even deeper than previously estimated, reflecting bigger slumps in consumer spending and housing, according to revised figures.

The world’s largest economy shrank 4.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2009, compared with the 3.7 percent drop previously on the books, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Household spending fell 1.2 percent in 2009, twice as much as previously projected and the biggest decline since 1942.

“We do tend to get bigger revisions at turning points in the economy,” Steven Landefeld, director of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a press conference this week. On the more positive side, “in the past, we’ve tended to undershoot the recovery” as well, he said.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The U.S. Government • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

1. dwlock1 wrote: WAS?!!! July 29, 11:54 am | [comment link]

2. upnorfjoel wrote: You beat me to it #1!!! July 29, 5:21 pm | [comment link]

3. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) wrote: What’s more, using 11H1 job figures, well over half the jobs created arose in just ten states, led by Texas, where one-sixth of all net jobs were created in the first two quarters of this year. Six other job-creation powerhouses are long-time Republican states. The remaining three (OH, MI, WI) turned Republican only at the last election, yet even in as brief a time as two quarters longstanding job loss trends were reversed were reversed in those states and together they account for one-fifth of all the net new jobs in the last six months. Without these ten states the national figures would be quite a bit worse. July 29, 6:04 pm | [comment link]

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