<P> The 2007--2009 recession saw private consumption fall for the first time in nearly 20 years . This indicates the depth and severity of the current recession . With consumer confidence so low, recovery takes a long time . Consumers in the U.S. have been hard hit by the current recession, with the value of their houses dropping and their pension savings decimated on the stock market . Not only have consumers watched their wealth being eroded--they are now fearing for their jobs as unemployment rises . </P> <P> U.S. employers shed 63,000 jobs in February 2008, the most in five years . Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said on 6 April 2008 that "There is more than a 50 percent chance the United States could go into recession ." On 1 October, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that an additional 156,000 jobs had been lost in September . On 29 April 2008, Moody's declared that nine US states were in a recession . In November 2008, employers eliminated 533,000 jobs, the largest single month loss in 34 years . For 2008, an estimated 2.6 million U.S. jobs were eliminated . </P> <P> The unemployment rate in the US grew to 8.5 percent in March 2009, and there were 5.1 million job losses until March 2009 since the recession began in December 2007 . That was about five million more people unemployed compared to just a year prior, which was the largest annual jump in the number of unemployed persons since the 1940s . </P> <P> Although the US Economy grew in the first quarter by 1%, by June 2008 some analysts stated that due to a protracted credit crisis and "...rampant inflation in commodities such as oil, food, and steel," the country was nonetheless in a recession . The third quarter of 2008 brought on a GDP retraction of 0.5% the biggest decline since 2001 . The 6.4% decline in spending during Q3 on non-durable goods, like clothing and food, was the largest since 1950 . </P>

Which of these terms is defined as a decline in economic activity that usually