the current recession doesn't have a universally accepted definition according to many economists we identify a recession if a country's gdp goes down for at least two consecutive quarters so for example if the third quarter GDP is lower than the second quarter GDP which itself was lower than the first former GDP some countries like the United Kingdom and European Union nations track the inflation adjusted GDP instead both versions are what we would call lagging in other words by the time we formally identified the recession we're already pre deep in it in the United States the go-to definition tends to be the one provided by the National Bureau of Economic Research according to them a recession represents a significant decline in economic activity which lasts more than a few months and can be spotted in inflation-adjusted GDP growth personal income employment industrial production and wholesale retail sales a pretty broad definition for sure all right what's a depression then well it's basically a very severe recession one that lasts lumber and we're indicators are disastrous rather than just bad so while an unemployment rate of 10% makes us think about a recession a 22 percent one would be in depression territory in the US the only depression pretty much everyone agrees on is the Great Depression of 1929 needless to say the week our country is the more prone to depressions it can be considered