Title:	Consequences of Economic Downturn
Authors:	Martha A. Star
Keywords:	Recessions Social aspects United States
Issue Date:	2011
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Description:	The economic downturn of 2007–09 inflicted considerable eco- nomic hardship on the U.S. population.1 Following years of extraor- dinary increases in home prices in many metropolitan areas, housing prices started falling in 2006, and home construction ground to a halt. As mortgage delinquencies and defaults rose, the balance sheets of financial institutions deteriorated, with full-scale financial crisis erupting in fall 2008. This confluence of factors propelled the U.S. economy into the longest downturn since the Great Depression, with unemployment reaching double digits for the first time in 25 years (see Figure 1.1). Almost all socioeconomic indicators show evi- dence of painful deterioration. The ranks of the unemployed swelled by almost 8 million between December 2007 and October 2009, with an additional 4.6 million people shifting involuntarily into part- time jobs. Nationally, about 1 in every 135 homes was in foreclosure in the third quarter of 2009, with hard-hit states such as Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada registering rates on the order of 1 per 52–4 homes. An additional 2.6 million persons fell below the poverty line between 2007 and 2008, while the number covered by private health insurance fell by 1 million.2
URI:	http://10.6.20.12:80/handle/123456789/50552
ISBN:	978-0-230-11835-5
Appears in Collections:	Population Studies

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