Omaha, Nebraska (AP) --

Billionaire Warren Buffett says the economy remains in a recession, by his definition, because most people and businesses still aren't doing as well as they were before the financial crisis.

Buffett's assessment of the economy contradicts the view of
experts who announced this week that the recession officially ended
in June 2009. But Buffett says he uses a commonsense standard to
evaluate the economy.

Buffett gets insight into the health of the economy through the
performance of Berkshire's subsidiaries. Buffett's Omaha-based
company owns clothing, insurance, furniture, utility, jewelry and
corporate jet companies.

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WASHINGTON (AP) --

It's official: The longest recession the country has endured since World War II ended in June 2009, according to a group that dates the beginning and end of recessions.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a panel of academic
economists based in Cambridge, Mass., says the recession lasted 18
months. It started in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. That
was the longest of any recession since World War II. Previously the
longest postwar downturns were those in 1973-1975 and in 1981-1982. Both of those lasted 16 months.