Is This Really a "White-Collar Recession"?

Until the National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of business cycles) decrees it, we cannot be certain that history will record the current economic downturn as a recession. Nonetheless, many economic analysts and media representatives have chosen not to wait for the official pronouncement, proclaiming not only that the US. economy is in the midst of a recession, but that this downturn is different from previous ones because it has hit white-collar workers disproportionately hard. While both issues provide interesting material for debate, this article investigates only whether we are indeed experiencing a white-collar downturn.