Defining the Recession

Background

Jeffrey Coolidge / Getty Images

The New York Times writes there is no official definition of a recession, and no official body to announce when one starts or ends. Still, recessions are often described as two or more quarters of a declining gross domestic product (GDP).

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, non-partisan group based in Cambridge, Mass., does not define a recession based on declining GDP.

“Rather, a recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.” – National Bureau of Economic Research

The NBER says the latest recession began December 1, 2007 and ended in June 2009.

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December 8, 2011

Idaho’s Medicaid Program by the Numbers

To understand the challenges Idaho’s Medicaid program has faced in recent years, it’s important to understand the numbers. As we noted in earlier reporting, Medicaid enrollment has grown by more than 20 percent since 2008. Source: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare The result is greater spending. As the graph below illustrates, state Medicaid expenditures […]

December 7, 2011

Six Months In, Evaluating The Effects Of A Medicaid Cut

It’s relatively simple to describe the Medicaid cut approved by the Idaho Legislature early this year. State leaders made about $35 million in targeted cuts. That meant fewer federal matching dollars, and a total funding loss of nearly $100 million to the state’s Medicaid program. The economic and personal reverberations are more difficult to tally, […]

December 6, 2011

Idaho’s Rising Medicaid Enrollment Drives Costs

Bruce Vladeck, who directed the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs for four years in the 1990s, summed up the Medicaid program this way. “Medicaid isn’t rocket science,” he said. “It’s harder and more expensive.” Years later, a poster echoing those words hangs in Idaho Medicaid Administrator Paul Leary’s office. It’s true that in the world […]

December 1, 2011

Liveblog: Associated Taxpayers of Idaho Annual Conference

Jobless In Idaho: Single Mom Budgets to Keep Family Afloat

“I think when I didn’t have enough money for food is when it really started to hit me.”

November 29, 2011

Idaho’s Poverty Rate Higher Than the National Average, Neighboring States

Idaho’s poverty rate has increased 1.4 percent from 2009 to 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau released new poverty and income estimates for 2010 today. The data includes Idaho’s state poverty and income estimates, plus, rates on a county-by-county level and for each school district. The annual estimates are based on a combination of data from […]

November 17, 2011

Jobless In Idaho: Tech Worker Unemployed For Years

“You have to realize that work doesn’t define who you are as a person.”

November 15, 2011

How Idaho Unemployment Insurance Benefits Are Paid For

Last week, the head of Idaho’s Labor Department encouraged state and federal lawmakers to vote against any further extensions of federal unemployment insurance benefits. Director Roger Madsen said he considers unemployment insurance to be one of this country’s most successful social programs, but believes extensions hold back business growth. You can read Madsen’s letter here. We […]

Rural Communities and the Funding Crunch

StateImpact’s recent story about Fairfield, in Camas County, described the about-face the town has suffered due to the recession. What it didn’t talk about is the town’s water system. In short, it’s not great. Right now, a water pressure problem allows bacteria to build up, clogging meters, pipes and distribution lines. That can have some unhappy […]

November 14, 2011

Looking at Numbers, Finding a Story

When I went to Camas County to report our recent story about Fairfield, I was thinking about numbers. The county is rural and small. That means it has a low population — about 1,100 people — which makes its unemployment rate a moving target. In August, unemployment in Camas County stood at 16.7 percent. Only […]