New York City's Tale of Two Recessions
A widening disconnect is emerging between the real economy and the financial sector that precipitated this calamitous downturn. While the unprecedented financial bailout measures by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have not fixed the financial system's myriad problems, they have restored profitability on Wall Street. Although the gross domestic product's rebound in the last half of 2009 may signal the technical end to the Great Recession, most economic forecasts expect anemic growth through the end of 2010. Households struggle with debt burdens unsupportable in a bleak labor market with few jobs and stagnant or declining real wages. Unemployment is expected to stay very high well into 2011 and, possibly, 2012.