Despite a $1.15 Billion rise in Chicago retail sales, the Tribune tells us we are in a recession, with directions like:

“It’s a bruising climate. It may not be an economic recession, but there is a shopping recession.”

“You can see the recession starting to occur.”

A round of applause to the comments on the Trib story, 1/2 of which noted that a sales tax increase in Cook County does not help sales, while others corrected that a rise in sales does not indicate a recession.