Recession of 1960–1961

The Recession of 1960–1961 was a recession in the United States. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research the recession lasted for 10 months, beginning in April 1960 and ending in February 1961. The recession preceded the third-longest economic expansion in U.S. history, from February 1961 until the beginning of the Recession of 1969–1970 in December 1969—to date only the 1990s and post-financial crisis (2009-2020) have seen a longer period of growth.[1]

The Federal Reserve had started to tighten monetary policy in 1959 and eased off in 1960.[2]

During this recession, the GDP of the United States fell 1.6 percent. Though the recession ended in November 1960, the unemployment rate did not peak for several more months. In May 1961, the rate reached its height for the cycle of 7.1 percent.[3]

References

1. "NBER Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions". NBER. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
2. Labonte, Marc (2002-01-10). "The Current Economic Recession" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-10. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
3. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved on September 19, 2009

Further reading

• Friedman, Milton; Schwartz, Anna J. (1993) [1963]. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 614–620. ISBN 978-0691003542.
• Meltzer, Allan H. (2009). A History of the Federal Reserve – Volume 2, Book 1: 1951–1969. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 301–303. ISBN 978-0226520025.
• Bremner, Robert P. (2004). Chairman of the Fed: William McChesney Martin Jr. and the Creation of the American Financial System. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0300105087.