You may have heard a recession defined as two
consecutive quarters of declining real GDP. In fact,
though, the NBER does not use this rule of thumb
in dating recessions. According to the NBER, the
U.S. economy was in a recession from March 2001
to November 2001. The following table shows the
growth rate of real GDP for the United States around
the time of the recession.
Use the rule of thumb to date the beginning and end of the
2001 recession. Based on the rule of thumb, did the United
States experience a recession in 2001? Why is there a
difference between the dates using the rule of thumb and
the dates from the NBER?