how long can a recession last 
a recession is defined as at least two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth a chart from the federal reserve of recessions since 1970 suggests how long a recession can last probably the worst was the double dip recession that began in the second quarter of 1979 and ended in the third quarter of 1980 only to reemerge in the second quarter of 1981 and continue through the third quarter of 1982 19the bottom linerecessions are common enough events to be considered a normal part of the economic cycle a period of expansion is followed by a period of contraction they are unpredictable although plenty of people try to predict them economists couldn t anticipate for example that a worldwide pandemic would cause a near shutdown of the global pipeline of goods and services leading to a recession that began in the first quarter of 2020 they also could not predict that the recession would be over by the third quarter of 2020 after a huge infusion of government cash not only propped up the economy but kept it going until more normal economic activity could resume a depression is a recession of catastrophic proportions the u s economy has not been in an economic depression since 1939 that may in part be because the nation s policymakers have developed tools to alleviate the effects of a recession before it morphs into something worse 