Most major media are reporting the 80,000 jobs cut in March and the uptick in unemployment claims as a sign that the nation may already be in a recession. 

Quit with the tip-toeing "may." This country already is in a recession.  Ask a regular working American who has to pay the grocery bill and the cost of other necessities from a pay check that shows how stagnant wages are.

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI): "The nation's job market appears solidly in recession, as payrolls contracted for the third month in a row, and unemployment jumped up from 4.8% to 5.1%, the highest jobless rate since September 2005, according to the report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Payrolls were down by 80,000 in March, the largest loss in five years, while January and February's initially reported losses were revised downward by an additional 67,000 jobs.

"Since employment peaked in December, payrolls have contracted by 232,000. Private sector payrolls were down 98,000 last month and 109,000 in February. Since hiring in the government sector is less susceptible to cyclical swings in the overall economy, private sector job patterns provide a clearer signal of the weakening labor market. Private sector jobs are down 300,000 from their peak in November.

"Officials often date a recession as beginning at or near the payroll employment peak. Thus, there is a good chance that the recession will ultimately be recognized to have begun in December or January.

"The increase in the unemployment rate is also important, particularly as regards the trend in labor force participation."

Read it and weep.  This is what two terms of Bush/Cheney and their Bushites have wrought.