According to the NBER, when did the U.S. Great Recession begin?

According to the NBER, the U.S. Great Recession began in December 2007. The National Bureau of Economic Research identifies December 2007 as the peak of the preceding business cycle and the start of the recession.

The downturn followed weakness in the housing market, rising mortgage defaults, falling home construction, and stress in financial markets. Problems spread from subprime mortgages to banks, investment firms, businesses, and households.

The recession officially ended in June 2009, although unemployment remained high afterward. A common mix-up is treating the 2008 financial crisis as the exact start date; the recession had already begun several months before the most dramatic failures and market turmoil.

The NBER dates recessions by broad economic activity, not simply by two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. It considers employment, income, production, and sales alongside GDP.