Slowest Post-War Recovery

By Randall Hoven

The latest GDP number brings us good news and bad news. The Great Recession ended in June 2009 according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. That was the low point of real GDP. Real GDP has grown every quarter in the three years since. That's the good news.

The bad news is that this recovery is the slowest in post-war US history.

We now have three years of recovery, all under President Obama. How does this recovery compare to the other post-war recoveries? See for yourself.

Recession	3 Year Recovery Period	Real GDP Growth over 3 years	President(s) during recovery
1948-49	4Q49-4Q52	25.4%	Truman
1953-54	2Q54-2Q57	12.4	Ike
1957-58	2Q58-2Q61	13.2	Ike/JFK
1960-61	1Q61-1Q64	18.4	JFK/LBJ
1969-70	4Q70-4Q73	16.4	Nixon
1973-75	1Q75-1Q78	14.1	Ford/Carter
1980	3Q80-3Q83	7.3	Carter/Reagan
1981-82	4Q82-4Q85	18.5	Reagan
1990-91	1Q91-1Q94	9.8	Bush 41/Clinton
2001	4Q01-4Q04	8.9	Bush 43
2007-09	2Q09-2Q12	6.7	Obama

Source: St. Louis Fed/FRED, GDPC96 series.

The 3-year recovery under Obama is the worst in post-war history. It is even worse than the three years after Carter's recession, which led to a double-dip recession just one year after it ended. Yes, this recovery is worse than a double-dip recession.

Randall Hoven can be followed on Twitter.