In: Economics
There are many ways of measuring a recession. Look at this article: “What is a recession anyway” 2019/03/25. Based on the rule of thumb approach mentioned in the article, find and download into excel the chained 2012 quarterly estimates (Look under the “prices” thumbnail on the StatCan website to find this “chained” data series and look for Table: 36-10-0104-01) for the period going from first quarter 1961 to the fourth quarters 2018 (seasonally adjusted series) to determine for which periods Canada has had a recession over this 47 year period (chained GDP is the new way of defining what we known as being real GDP). Calculate the quarter-to-quarter changes in GDP in the Excess file on the sheet named GDP quarterly. Draw a line chart showing the quarter-to-wuarter percent rates of change and include it in the Excel file on the sheet named GDP quarterly. Include the chart on that Excel sheet and copy and paste it as an image in your main document. Also highlight in the Table in Excel on the sheet named GDP quarterly the periods for which Canada has been in a recession according to the above definition. Also write down the recessionary periods (quarter and years) in your document.
According to the article the definition of a recession is:
"The rule of thumb definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth."
Chart depicting %change in GDP per quarter:
According to the definition above, Canada has been in a recession around 5 times.
Specifics:
1.) Q3 1974 - Q1 1975
2.) Q3 1981 - Q4 1982
3.) Q2 1990 - Q2 1991
4.) Q3 2008 - Q3 2009
5.) Q1 2015 - Q2 2015