It's starting to feel like a double dip

“The odds of a double-dip are rising and uncomfortably high,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, referring to the possibility that the nation will tip back into recession. “Nothing else can go wrong. There is no cushion left.”

On Wednesday, the government offered the latest dose of grim news about the economic recovery: Companies cut back last month on their investments in equipment and machines. And Americans bought new homes at the weakest pace in nearly half a century…

For the average household, whether the economy is growing slightly or not at all may not matter much. Two gauges that matter more are the unemployment rate, which is stuck at 9.5 percent, and home values, which are down about 30 percent from their 2006 peak.

“Who cares if it’s a second recession or a double-dip?” said William Dunkelberg, an economics professor at Temple University’s School of Business and Management and chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business. “Either way, things are not going well.”