About this project
Built to make the cycle easy to understand.
Last Recession is a simple, data-first view of where the U.S. economy sits in the market cycle. We track the official recession dates, surface leading indicators, and keep the clock running so you always know how long the expansion has lasted.
The last U.S. recession ended in April 2020 (NBER). Since then, roughly
23.7 million people have been born in the U.S.
This estimate uses about 11,000 births per day.
At a glance
Apr 2020
Last recession end (NBER)
Daily
Indicator refresh cadence
FRED + NBER
Primary data sources
This site is informational and not investment advice.
What you can do here
Track the clock
The homepage shows the time since the last recession.
Monitor indicators
Daily signals that tend to lead the business cycle.
Study history
NBER recession dates and references.
Read the daily brief
Short, readable summaries of the macro backdrop.
Method and sources
We use the National Bureau of Economic Research for official recession dates and pull indicator series from trusted public sources like FRED. The goal is clarity: fewer signals, more context, and fast scanning for changes.
Have ideas or corrections? We welcome feedback and source suggestions to keep the dataset accurate and useful.