NBER:
“The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National
Bureau of Economic Research maintains a chronology of the peaks and troughs of
U.S. business cycles. The committee has determined that a peak in monthly
economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in February 2020. The peak marks
the end of the expansion that began in June 2009 and the beginning of a
recession. The expansion lasted 128 months, the longest in the history of U.S.
business cycles dating back to 1854. The previous record was held by the
business expansion that lasted for 120 months from March 1991 to March 2001.
The committee also determined that a peak in quarterly economic activity
occurred in 2019Q4. Note that the monthly peak (February 2020) occurred in a
different quarter (2020Q1) than the quarterly peak. The committee determined
these peak dates in accord with its long-standing policy of identifying the
months and quarters of peak activity separately, without requiring that the
monthly peak lie in the same quarter as the quarterly peak. …
A recession is a significant decline in economic
activity spread across the economy, normally visible in production, employment,
and other indicators. A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of
economic activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough. Between trough
and peak, the economy is in an expansion”.