Commercial Printing Outlook : New Year, Similar Outlook

In comparing the 2007-09 and the 1981-82 recessions, there is a “tremendous recovery gap,” he says, which has resulted in lower growth of around two to three percentage points in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or approximately $300 billion to $450 billion in lost output and millions of lost jobs.

“The pace of economic growth in the first half of 2011 was dismal—0.4 percent in the first quarter and 1.0 percent in the second quarter,” he continues. “The recovery picked up in the second half of the year, with the preliminary growth rate for the third quarter estimated to be 2.5 percent. Most likely, the economy will end 2011 with a full-year growth rate of around 2 percent.”