Real government expenditures in recessions and subsequent recoveries since 1948

Quarter Average of pre-1980s recessions Early 1980s recession 1990 recession 2001 recession 2007 recession
-9 0.903841
-8 0.907022
-7 0.91597
-6 0.919612 0.896781
-5 0.9336863 0.933643 0.908194
-4 0.96147084 0.943037 0.938287
-3 0.9660575 0.949903 0.973082 0.935461
-2 0.98664068 0.956289 1.011474 0.984862 0.929131
-1 0.99031804 0.973453 1.025372 0.991775 0.945731
0 1 1 1 1 1
1 1.03739367 1.003406 1.031986 1.016599 1.010355
2 1.02587153 1.016527 1.047023 1.027015 1.007506
3 1.01607616 1.020481 1.065995 1.033033 1.019912
4 1.03130283 1.01395 1.088692 1.045771 1.024077
5 1.04893481 1.022835 1.101646 1.059014 1.026123
6 1.06428821 1.037549 1.112303 1.077037 1.025589
7 1.07942298 1.049091 1.117083 1.076552 1.022811
8 1.10653676 1.066847 1.114949 1.08074 1.030403
9 1.10616078 1.075917 1.115387 1.099058 1.014113
10 1.133538 1.087306 1.122778 1.099532 1.011238
11 1.14401922 1.103156 1.1257 1.107016 1.014988
12 1.15512171 1.114143 1.118821 1.113766 1.022807
13 1.16543079 1.122944 1.125041 1.133755 1.01599
14 1.19325886 1.141506 1.135722 1.14007 1.016899
15 1.14414684 1.157107 1.149697 1.148254 1.008599
16 1.1566797 1.157997 1.159181 1.157468 1.015667

Note: The average of all pre-1980s recessions is the average of government expenditures for the six recessions and subsequent recoveries between 1948 and 1980. The early 1980s recession begins in 1980Q1 and spans through 1982Q4 to cover the recession from 1980Q1 through 1980Q3 and the subsequent recession from 1981Q3 through 1982Q4. The start of the recovery begins in 1982Q4.

Source: Authors' analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts (Table 3.1)

View the underlying data on epi.org.