“We’re in the middle of a recession…”

From Bloomberg:

U.S. Economy to Stall as Consumer Spending Cools, Survey Shows

Economic growth in the U.S. will come to a halt in the first six months of 2008 as consumer spending cools, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

The world’s largest economy will not expand at all from January through June, according to the median estimate of 62 economists surveyed from April 2 to April 8. A majority now projects the U.S. is, or will soon be, in a recession.

Job losses, falling home values and credit restrictions are plaguing consumers already burdened by soaring food and gasoline bills. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who conceded for the first time last week that the economic expansion may end, will cut interest rates again, the poll showed.

“The economy is not going anywhere in the first half,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The American consumer is pretty dismal right now. We’re in the middle of a recession and we’ve got another three to six months to work our way out of it.”

The deepest reductions came in the outlook for the second quarter as economists slashed the growth estimate to zero from last month’s projected 0.5 percent annual pace.

Increases in fuel prices and the unexpected pickup in firings since the start of the year explain the downgrade.

“Those two things are hitting the consumer hard,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist for RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. “Demand is deteriorating rapidly.”

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