Economic activity peaked in February 2020, marking the end of an expansion that began in June 2009, according to a report from the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The recession brought an end to the longest economic expansion in the history of U.S. business cycles. The expansion lasted 128 months until February, when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the economy into decline. It beat the previous record-breaking expansion that lasted for 120 months from 1991 to 2001.
The committee said while the pandemic has made the economic downturn look different than prior recessions, the members said the "unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions."
Read the full report here.