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This past week, President Obama, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and some economists in the media have expressed optimism about the state of the U.S. economy. Obama claimed to see “glimmers of hope,” while Bernanke cited statistics in home sales and constructions in February as reasons to be optimistic. The Wall Street Journal published a survey last week of private economists that suggested that the U.S. economy would begin to recover by this September. However, new data on foreclosures and housing construction illustrate that the real estate bubble burst that has been a root cause of the current recession hasn’t bottomed out yet. RealtyTrac, a research firm, reported yesterday that foreclosure filings in March rose 17% compared to last month’s figure. Furthermore, as the temporary moratorium on home foreclosures expired, the number of filings increased 46% in March as compared to a year ago at this time. The U.S. Department of Commerce also released new data yesterday that showed home constructions to be similarly down. The number of new homes and apartments being built dropped 10.8% in March in what was the second slowest pace of construction recorded in fifty years. With these most recent economic indicators in mind, coupled with the continuous hemorrhaging of jobs, is optimism about the end of the recession premature?

GUEST: Doug Henwood, author of “After the New Economy,” and editor of “Left Business Observer,” host of a Pacifica weekly program called Behind the News