Chief Economist at Stewart Title says the recession is over. Good to hear.
From Ted Jones at Stewart blogs
While there are several definitions of a recession (a period of several months in which economic activity declines), I define a recession as an extended period when the country has job losses. Jobs are everything to the economy. Period. And when it comes to housing, other than retirees (which I call blue hairs, gray hairs and no hairs), very few people buy a home without a job. And I have gray hair, so my term is not derogatory. Retirement for me is hopefully a decade off.
The GREAT news is that, in the prior 12 months, from the end of January 2012 to the end of January 2013, not one state lost jobs. And I define losing jobs as more than 500 net job losses since I do not believe that the resolution of counting jobs is that precise. This now makes nine times in the past 17 months that no state lost jobs, assuming that 500 number. Hence a genuine trend.