Recessionname

Time frame

Time Span

Percent

unemployment

Decrease in GDP

Attributes

Great Depression (Eichengreen & Temin, 2000; Vedder & Gallaway, 1993; Coen, 1973)

Aug 1929- Mar 1933

3 years and 7 months

21.3%(1932)

24.9%(1933)

−26.7%

Significant duties on imports and exports combined with other factors led to a collapse in banking and monetary supply. This led to a loss of GDP, industrial production, and employment.

Recession of 1937-1938 (Coen, 1973; Smiley, 1997)

May 1937- June 1938

1 year and 1 month

17.8% (1937)

19.0%(1938)

−18.2%

This was among the worst recessions of the 20th century, characterized by stiff financial and budgetary policies adopted by the Federal Reserve, and reduction in business profits.

Recession of 1945: following World War II from 1939-1945 (Zarnovitz, 1996; Rosnick, 2010)

Feb 1945- Oct 1945

8 months

5.2% (1946)

−12.7%

There was a huge decline in GDP at the end of World War II due to a transition in economy.

Recession of 1949: Cold War period, beginning in 1947 (Zarnovitz, 1996; Labonte & Makinen, 2003)

Nov 1948- Oct 1949

11 months

7.9% (1949)

−1.7%

This was a period of brief economic downturn, followed by financial restrictions.

Recession of 1953: Cold War period (Dell, 1957; Holmans, 1958)

July 1953- May 1954

10 months

6.1% (1954)

−2.6%

After the inflationary period following the Korean War, more funds were allocated to national security. In 1952, the Federal Reserve adopted a restrictive financial policy due to concerns of further inflation.

Recession of 1958: Cold War period (Labonte & Makinen, 2003)

Aug 1957- April 1958

8 months

7.5% (1958)

−3.7%

There was a 0.6% budget deficit of GDP in 1958, followed by 2.6% deficit of GDP in 1959.

Recession of 1960-61: Cold War period (Labonte & Makinen, 2003)

Apr 1960- Feb 1961

10 months

7.1% (1961)

−1.6%

Financial recession occurred after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in 1959.

Recession of 1969-70: Cold War period (Labonte & Makinen, 2003)

Dec 1969- Nov 1970

11 months

6.1% (1970)

−0.6%

Recession was relatively mild in 1969 followed a protracted development.

Recession of 1973-75: Cold War period (Merrill, 2007; Knoop, 2004)

Nov 1973- Mar 1975

1 year and 4 months

9.0% (1975)

−3.2%

Oil crisis occurred in 1973, leading to drastic increase in oil prices, followed by the 1973-1974 stock market crash.

Recession of 1980: Cold War period (BBC News, 2009)

Jan 1980- July 1980

6 months

7.8% (1980)

−2.2%

A very short recession occurred in 1980, followed by a short period of growth and then a deep recession.

Recession of 1981-1982: Cold War period (Rattner, 1981)

July 1981- Nov 1982

1 year and 4 months

10.8% (1982)

−2.7%

In 1979 the Iranian Revolution dramatically increased the price of oil across the world. This lead to the 1979 energy crisis.

Recession of early 1990s: Cold War and its end in 1991 (Walsh, 1993)

July 1990- Mar 1991

8 months

7.8% (1992)

−1.4%

Inflation increased and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.

Recession of early 2000s (Kliesen, 2003)

Mar 2001- Nov 2001

8 months

6.3% (2003)

−0.3%

The dot-com bubble collapsed, leading to a decline in businesses and investments. A series of coordinated attacks against the U.S. took place on September 11.

Great Recession (Stark, 2010; Economic Times Series Page, 2020; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2020)

Dec 2007- June 2009

1 year and 6 months

10.0% (2009)

−5.1%

Housing infrastructure collapsed in the United States, leading to a global financial crisis. Prices of oil and food rocketed.

COVID-19 Crisis (Cohen & Hsu, 2020; International Monetary Fund, 2020)

Mar 2020- present

N/A

N/A

N/A

Trade plunged downward leading to global financial crisis and job losses. Stock market responded negatively in technological sectors.