The Recession of 1948–49

The recession of 1948–49 began in November 1948 and ended in October 1949. This was the first recession independent of World War II, which had ended in August 1945. There had been a previous recession from March 1945 to October 1945 that began in what turned out to be the last phases of the war. That recession is not included in this analysis because it was dominated by the beginning of the transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy, in contrast to the recessions included here that reflect cyclical movements dominated by the production of household goods, housing, and business equipment and structures, for civilian markets (see the Preface, note 1).