Recession (Reading Class)

Recession


A recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle. The U.S. based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession more broadly as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." A sustained recession may become a depression.

American newspapers often quote the rule of thumb that a recession occurs when real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is negative for two or more consecutive quarters. This measure fails to register several official (NBER defined) US recessions.



Key Vocabulary

# economy
# contraction
# significant
# decline
# employment
# industrial
# production
# wholesale
# retail
# consecutive
# quarter(s)
# sustain
# depression
# GDP: Gross Domestic Product




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