The US economy has now been expanding for 74 consecutive months, officially surpassing the average postwar expansion length of roughly 64 to 65 months.
From the shortest recession to a long recovery
The current expansion traces its roots to one of the strangest economic episodes in modern history. The NBER, which serves as the official scorekeeper for US business cycles, confirmed that the pandemic recession lasted just two months. It peaked in February 2020 and bottomed out by April 2020.
The longest expansion in US history ran for 128 months, stretching from June 2009 all the way to February 2020. So the current cycle would need to keep running until roughly mid-2031 to match that record.
GDP growth and recession odds
