How Long Do Recessions Last?

By Kathy Lien | December 02, 2008 | 11:51 AM | 0 Comments

Now that US economy is officially in recession, the big question on everyone's mind is, how long will it last?

So far, the current recession is the fourth longest in the past 80 years and its on track to be as long as recession in the 1970s and 80s, which lasted for 16 months. However we are still a long ways from the Great Depression, when the recession lasted for 43 months or more than 3.5 years.

In his speech on Monday, Bernanke said that it is not useful to compare the current recession with the Great Depression because that was much worse.

Here's a fantastic graphic from the Wall Street Journal that indicates how long recessions have lasted: