"9/11 Recession" Myth

An article in the August 7 WSJ ($) by Greg Ip and Jon E. Hilsenrath gives a history of How Credit Got So Easy. Brad Delong comments and displays part of the article.

This in the third paragraph stopped me:

“…the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pushed the economy into recession in 2001…”

That of course is incorrect.

The NBER dates the recession from Mar01 to Nov01.

This report to congress concludes:

“Notwithstanding their dire costs in human life, the direct effects of the attacks were too small and too geographically concentrated to make a significant dent in the nation’s economic output. September 11 did not trip a fragile economy into recession.”

Looking at the BLS payroll data relative to population shows 9/11 at the bottom of the employment downturn, so that it was actually coincident with what sparse employment recovery our country has realized.

Why does the “9/11-Recession” myth persist?