Economic Outlook Continues to Darken.

As President-Elect Obama prepares for his inauguration and the first actions of his presidency, one issue continues to dominate the headlines and the lives of many Americans.

The Economy –

As was announced last week (not to anyone’s surprise), the US economy has entered into a recession. “Recession” has a very simple definition: a decline in gross domestic product or negative real economic growth for 2 or more consecutive quarters.

So many different “indicators” can lead to and result from the “downturn” – one major concern for President-Elect Obama’s administration will be the continuing rise in unemployment. Due to the credit crisis, many businesses are unable to secure the funds to grow and/or sustain until the economy “rebounds.”

This week, the US Labor Department reported that over 500,000 jobs were lost in November. This is the largest monthly drop in jobs since 1974.