As the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach post another round of dismal monthly import statistics, a new assessment finds that the nation’s busiest seaport complex will need at least four more years to fully recover its momentum — not to mention the jobs, incomes and revenues that went with it — after the worst global recession in 60 years.

The recovery will be so slow and painful that a return to the pace set during the economic boom year of 2006 — when the ports handled 15.8 million cargo containers bound for most parts of the U.S. — won’t come before 2013.

That is the grim conclusion of a new report produced for the local ports but not released to the public.

Among the report’s many points is that this recession is far more complicated than the economic downturns following the dot-com bust and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, after which pent-up consumer demand rather quickly returned the economy to relatively normal levels.

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