The US Recession In Perspective

From the Minneapolis Fed:

The economy is in recession. But how bad is it? How does this recession compare to previous recessions? This page places the current economic downturn into historical (post-WWII) perspective. It compares output and employment changes during the present recession with the same data for the 10 previous recessions that have occurred since 1946.

This page provides a current assessment of “how bad” the recession is relative to past recessions. It will be updated as new data are released.

MP: Notice that the last graph shows that real GDP growth during the current recession is positive and the second highest (only the 1969 recession was higher) after three quarters, and the only recession showing positive economic growth overall. Of course, the recession has not ended so this will change moving forward. The Fed will update these charts as new data becomes available.

On several different measures of output and employment, the current recession hasn’t yet come close to reaching the severity of many of the post-WWII recessions, suggesting that the comparisons to the 1930s and Great Depression might be premature.

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