What does it mean to have a "bad" economy?

Question

I keep hearing about how the United State's economy is doing really poorly and is almost to a bear market, but Im not sure what all this really means. What makes a bad economy?

Answer 1

for a country to have a strong economy ? ... A strong economy means that the country exports (sells to other countries) more than it .

Answer 2

When it's too hot or too cold. Esp. when it's cold.

Take any important factor in the economy:

Job growth / loss

Inflation

Interest rates

Consumer debt

Spendable income

Consumer confidence

Nat'l debt / trade debt

Any or all could be 'worse' than usual. When a lot of them are sub-par, -then the pundits can claim it's a 'bad' economy.