The Arizona and national economies are going through a painful readjustment that will take awhile to complete, according to economists who spoke Wednesday at an economic outlook forum sponsored by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

Has Arizona entered a recession? Prominent economists who monitor the state’s economic landscape are answering with a firm “yes” these days. And they say it’s likely to be awhile before the state returns to its normal growth mode.

Economist Anthony Chan stresses one word when asked about the housing market: caution. “It’s a time when you have to be very careful about overpaying, but it’s also a time you can can actually get good buys because the sellers are aware that it’s becoming more and more of a buyer’s market,” he says.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve’s laser-like focus on inflation has investors parsing every scrap of pricing data that crosses their desks. The conclusion many have reached: Inflation isn’t as bad as the Fed seems to think it is.

WASHINGTON - Economists are forecasting a rise of 102,000 non-farm jobs when the Labor Department releases its unemployment data for October this morning. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 5.1 percent.

WASHINGTON - The Labor Department will release the unemployment numbers for February at 8:30 a.m. EST today. Economists expect an increase of 220,000 in payrolls and see the jobless rate holding at 5.2 percent.

NEW YORK - Companies are expected to step up hiring in 2004 after a year in which household spending boosted the economy more than business investment, according to a group of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Economists who advise Arizona's independent legislative budget analysts said Thursday that residents who have hunkered down through years of tough economic times may finally have reason to be a little more perky this year, but the economy won't meet Gov. Jan Brewer's expectations.

Arizona’s economy is on the cusp of a slow recovery after three years of decline, an Arizona State University economist said Wednesday.

Arizona’s economy is on the cusp of a slow recovery after three years of decline, an Arizona State University economist said Wednesday.

Arizona’s economy is on the cusp of a slow recovery after three years of decline, an Arizona State University economist said Wednesday.

Four of ASU's most prominent economists have joined with hundreds of others in their field to argue against the federal stimulus package now finishing its journey through Congress.

This week’s Economist features Mesa as the ‘City of the Future,’ in large part for the potential growth in southeast Mesa, especially the GM Proving Ground, near Elliot and Ellsworth Roads.

WASHINGTON - Weighed down by a housing slump, the economy in 2007 will log its most sluggish growth in five years. But that showing should not cause businesses to really clamp down on hiring, economic forecasters say.

QUITO, Ecuador - A leftist economist who called for Ecuador to cut ties with international lenders appeared to have easily won the presidency of this poor, politically unstable Andean nation, strengthening South America's tilt to the left.

SAN FRANCISCO - Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who advocated an unfettered free market and had the ear of three U.S. presidents, died Thursday at age 94.

WASHINGTON - Economists expect an increase of 225,000 in non-farm payroll jobs in March and a drop in the unemployment rate to 5.3 percent when the Labor Department releases new unemployment numbers at 8:30 a.m. this morning.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy, primed by tax cuts and low interest rates, should grow next year at the fastest pace in two decades, but that will do little to decrease unemployment, top economic forecasters predicted Monday.

A gauge of economic activity improved slightly in June for the third consecutive month, buttressing the view that the nation is on the cusp of a financial recovery even if signs of weakness persist.

Homeowners giddy about the current double-digit increases in values should not count on the trend continuing, a pair of economists said Thursday.

A top state economist predicted Friday modest growth in jobs for the balance of this year and the next.

Arizonans waiting for that long-promised economic recovery are going to have to cool their heels for a few more years.