Recession of 1969–70

The Recession of 1969–1970 was a relatively mild recession in the United States. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research the recession lasted for 11 months, beginning in December 1969 and ending in November 1970.^[1] The recession followed the second longest economic expansion in U.S. history which had begun February 1961 (only the 1990s saw a longer period of growth).

At the end of the expansion inflation was rising, possibly a result of increased deficit spending during a period of full employment. This relatively mild recession coincided with an attempt to start closing the budget deficits of the Vietnam War (fiscal tightening) and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates (monetary tightening).^[2]

During this relatively mild recession, the Gross Domestic Product of the United States fell 0.6 percent. Though the recession ended in November 1970, the unemployment rate did not peak until the next month. In December 1970, the rate reached its height for the cycle of 6.1 percent.^[3]

References

^ "NBER Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions". NBER. http://www.nber.org/cycles.html. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
^ Labonte, Marc (2002-01-10). "The Current Economic Recession". Congressional Research Service. http://www.fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/7962.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
^ Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved on September 19, 2009

Recessions in the United States

1796–99 • 1815–21 • 1836–38 and 39–43 • 1857–58 • 1873–1879 • 1882–85 • 1893–1896 • 1907–08 • 1918–19 • 1920–21 • 1929–33 • 1937–38 • 1949 • 1953–54 • 1958 • 1960–61 • 1969–70 • 1973–75 • 1980 and 1981–82 • 1990–91 • 2001 • 2007–2011