EDITORIAL: Economic trouble ain't over till it's over

It will come as cold comfort to jobless Americans that economists have pinpointed the end of the recent recession, the nation's worst since the Great Depression. For the record, the 18-month downturn officially expired in June of 2009.

The good news is that things have mostly stopped getting worse. The economy is growing again, with stocks and corporate profits both looking healthier. On Long Island, unemployment (at 7 percent) is way below the national figure.

The bad news is that things are still awful. Nationally, joblessness remains at 9.6 percent, but when you count those who've dropped out of the labor force and others who aren't fully employed, the rate is 16.5 percent. More than a quarter of homeowners with first mortgages owe more than their property is worth, so home prices may fall for a long time.

Sooner or later things will get better, but that could take years. Meanwhile, it's time for Uncle Sam to act. It could enhance unemployment benefits, for instance, or even launch a jobs program for health aides, day care workers and others likely to spend everything they earn. Washington should also consider refinancing underwater homeowners who - regardless of equity - are up to date on mortgage payments.

These steps, useful in their own right, might also help address the psychology of recession, which has proved so much more durable than the recession itself. There are two kinds of depression, after all. We avoided one of them. hN