The economy: How bad is it?

Whether the country is officially in recession is determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization. The group considers several economic indicators, as well as the severity and duration of a downturn.

The NBER says the most recent recession lasted from March 2001 until November 2001 and that the economy has been in "expansion" since then.

The group typically does not declare a recession for anywhere from 6 to 18 months after its arrival.

On Friday, the NBER's president, Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, said we are in a recession, though it was not an official NBER declaration.

NEXT: Economic Growth: Slumping