Late-2000s recession: Overview

The late-2000s recession is shaping up to be the worst post-war contraction on record:
Real gross domestic product (GDP) began contracting in the third quarter of 2008, and by early 2009 was falling at an annualized pace not seen since the 1950s.

Capital investment, which was in decline year-on-year since the final quarter of 2006, matched the 1957-58 post war record in the first quarter of 2009. The pace of collapse in residential investment picked up speed in the first quarter of 2009, dropping 23.2% year-on-year, nearly four percentage points faster than in the previous quarter.
Domestic demand, in decline for five straight quarters, is still three months shy of the 1974-75 record, but the pace – down 2.6% per quarter vs. 1.9% in the earlier period – is a record-breaker already.