Business cycles: A Different Cycle - Business in United States of America
Business cycles: Principal Features
Real Gross Domestic Product per Capita in the United States
Growth cycles need to be distinguished from business cycles. Most economic fluctuations begin with much-reduced but still positive growth rates, which then develop into actual declines. However, some slowdowns do not result in absolute declines in economic growth and subsequently move into a phase of increased expansion, not recession. This phenomena is known as a growth cycle.
Since 1950, declines in growth in the United States that have not led to actual declines in economic activity occurred in 1951-1952, 1962-1964, 1966-1967, 1979, and 2007. Their adverse effects were felt primarily in areas of particular cyclical sensitivity, notably in housing starts and stock prices. Unemployment ceased declining but did not rise significantly, and profits declined slightly rather than falling dramatically. Thus, the overall impact of any of these slowdowns in economic activity was definitely less than even the mildest of recessions.