New Delhi: Reading the global economic and financial news this week has been a bit like walking down a hall of mirrors. A lot depends on where you are looking.

The US labour department said on Thursday that job losses kept mounting, a clear indication that the world’s largest economy is still in trouble. Yet stock markets continued to march upwards, soon after the end of one of their best quarters ever.

The US jobs data had some more bad news. Wage rates of those lucky to still have jobs have stagnated. They are close to declining. But it is quite another story on Wall Street. It was reported that pay and bonuses paid to bankers have started climbing again and will be close to the average levels of 2007.

Paul Krugman pointed out that wages growing slower than inflation could be a sign that Japan-style deflation may afflict the US. But long-term interest rates continued to climb on expectations of higher inflation.

So, let’s not call the end of the great recession quite yet. It ain’t over till the final over is bowled.