Recession+Economy?

Question

what is meant by an economy going to recession

Answer 1

this is a VERY vague question - but, generally, the state of the economy will contract. unemployment may rise, GDP may fall for a period of 6 consecutive months to 11 years, historically speaking.

Answer 2

In order to understand what a recession is, you must first understand what factors come into play when talking about one.  First of all you must understand GDP.

The gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI) is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy.

GDP is defined as the total market value of all final goods and services produced within the country in a given period of time (usually a calendar year). It is also considered the sum of value added at every stage of production (the intermediate stages) of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time, and it is given a money value.

If I remember correctly the formula to calculate GDP is:

GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports)

Okay so now that you hopefully have a decent understanding of what GDP is and what is made up of you need only know one other thing.  

Our economy typically grows at a rate of around 3%, or in other words our nations GDP grows at about 3%.  This is an average growth rate, in an economic "boom" you will see positive growth 2%, 3%, 3.7% etc., and in a economic recession you will see little to no growth at all, typically a recession means that we are loosing ground, or sustaining a loss, ie. -2%, etc.  

To see what the economy has done in recent history I found a site that may help put it in perspective for you, check it out.  Well this is a lot and it seems a bit complicated and that's because it is but I hope I've helped shed some light on the subject.  Good luck!