The administration is hailing the economy’s strong, 5.7 percent annual growth rate reported for 2009’s last quarter, the fastest pace since 2003 and second straight quarter of growth after four of decline.

And while many economists are waving caution flags, noting that much of the growth was simply from businesses replenishing threadbare inventories, one leading economist says flat-out that, “The Great Recession is over.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, does point out that the economy isn’t out of the woods yet, but says it appears to have turned the corner.

Zandi admits the recession is history only “in a very technical sense. It’s probably in a sense only an economist can really appreciate. Not until we start to see jobs will, I think, people believe that the recession is over.”

When will that be?

“I’m hopeful that, in the next few months, certainly by the spring and summer, we’ll start to see some job growth,” Zandi told “The Early Show Saturday Edition” co-anchor Erica Hill. “If history is any guide, when GDP (gross domestic product) rises … then, a quarter or two down the road, businesses start on add to their payrolls, so they start to hire. So that means, come April, May, June, I’d expect some job growth.”