After a deep and protracted recession, economic indicators are currently mixed.
Adding to the pessimism was a note from Citigroup suggesting that the sovereign and banking crisis in the eurozone will lead to a "protracted recession".
Kobe Steel blamed Japan's protracted recession and the yen's appreciation for its poor performance in the latest year.
Since 1991, Japan has undergone a protracted recession known popularly as the Lost Decades.
Japan is only starting to recover from its protracted recession, so China will be handed the role of economic villain in the coming election cycle.
Japan's economic boom has ended, leaving the country with a protracted recession and new insecurities about American competitiveness.
Although fiscal dues were not equalised until the 1820s, union for Ireland, as for Scotland in 1707, led to protracted economic recession.
Mexico's economy, which moves in lock step with the United States, fell into protracted recession.
Western Europe is just beginning to pull out of a protracted recession and, feeling the squeeze, many hotels and restaurants have learned to compete.
The effects were catastrophic, resulting in a protracted recession with mass unemployment and a sharp drop in property values that persisted until 1822.