Fed says recession cut spending $7,300 a person

7/12/2011

SAN FRANCISCO — The 18-month U.S. recession that ended in June, 2009, has cost more than $7,300, or about $175 a month, per person in lost consumption so far, according to a researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

The $7,300 figure reflects the period from December, 2007, to May, 2011, and was calculated by comparing the path of real personal consumption expenditures to precrisis levels, senior economist Kevin Lansing wrote in a paper released yesterday.

Per capita consumption is still 1.6 percent below its prerecession peak, he said.