The AP reports that for two months in a row U.S. employers have cut jobs, a situation that hasn't occurred since May and June 2003, when the effects of the 2001 recession still remained.

It appears we may already be in a recession, and if not currently, factors now exist to show we are well on on our way to one soon.

"Employers slashed jobs by the largest amount in five years and hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force — ominous signs that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one."

"The shower of pink slips was widespread. Factories, construction companies, mortgage brokers, real-estate firms, retailers, temporary-help firms, child day-care providers, hotels, educational services, accounting firms and computer designers were among those shedding jobs. All those cuts swamped job gains at hospitals and other health care sites, bars and restaurants, legal services and the government."

According to the article,a general rule for defining a recession is that the economy would have to shrink for 6 months for the country to actually be considered in a recession.