Mr. Ricker (The Inbox, June 17) is correct that to judge anything one needs a benchmark. Since the Great Depression there have been multiple recessions. If one compares the recoveries from these recessions, the (recovery) from the 2007-2009 Recession has been the slowest. It has lasted longer and has produced fewer jobs than any recovery since the Great Depression. One can quibble over statistics, but the fact remains that the Obama Administration’s handling of the (Bush) recession has been inept, frequently counterproductive and wasteful of taxpayer money. To give Mr. Obama four more years to continue his policies that have given us the slowest recovery in 70 years would be foolish and dangerous.

No one can deny the Great Recession left a permanent mark on our nation and its economy. But what effect did it have on the American Dream of Home Ownership? That’s the question we set out to answer by asking Phoenix-based Benchmark Research Technologies to survey nearly 1,700 Arizona new home shoppers about their attitudes surrounding home ownership in the post-recession era.

PHOENIX -- Passenger traffic at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix increased by 5.3 percent last year from 2010 as traffic continued to rebound from the Great Recession.

The Republican party wants us to believe that the unemployment rate of 8.2 percent reflects negatively on Obama’s economic policies. My question is compared to what?

As businesses strive to grow out of the Great Recession, a survey found 56 percent of them say their biggest challenge is overcoming the economic downturn.

Health care is a business and economic driver in the East Valley, similar to the aerospace or defense industries. The health care sector makes effective use of private and public funds to create jobs, support ancillary services and support the purchase of local materials. Statewide, the hospital industry is 63 percent larger than the hospitality industry and 37 percent larger than the electronics and aerospace industries combined.

WASHINGTON -- The economy is ending 2011 on a roll.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economic recovery hasn't felt much like one even for people who managed to find new jobs after being laid off. Most of them have had to settle for less pay.

The Great Recession is slowly easing and Americans are getting back to work. However, most of us have been left with the remnants of a financial hangover from the past 20 years that had us feeling entitled to live large on credit with a middle class income.

States starting to turn the corner on their Great Recession budget woes are taking the cautious approach, socking away millions of dollars in rainy day funds rather than restoring spending for education, health care and social services.

Right up front, it’s important to know that I’m not a contestant for the title of Mr. Totally Financially Prepared.

NEW YORK (AP) — For almost three years, no matter what has rattled the financial markets — a debt crisis in Europe, high gasoline prices, a slower economy — investors have been soothed by rising corporate profits.

WASHINGTON — Economic growth is pitiful. Unemployment has topped 8 percent for an exhausting 43 months. The nation is careering toward a so-called fiscal cliff, and maybe a recession.

WASHINGTON — Some reward.

WASHINGTON — The American job machine has jammed. Again.

Careful, East Valley. With apologies to Marty McFly, that forming line many think is leading to recovery instead is into an economic time machine that’s once again taking us back to the future.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. job market is proving sturdier than expected at a time when the economy is under pressure from Washington gridlock and the threat of government spending cuts.

The depth of the Great Recession was front and center in the daily lives of East Valley residents as storefront after storefront emptied out of the area’s countless and prominent shopping centers.

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs in August, a tepid figure that points to the economy's persistent weakness and slowing prospects for the unemployed.

NEW YORK — Forget about the "fiscal cliff."