A contraction is the phase of the business cycle when the economy declines, often with falling real GDP and rising unemployment, moving from peak toward trough (expansion, peak, contraction, trough).

Small-business owners need to realize that business operates in cycles. During the growth or maturation phase, businesses purchase equipment and hire employees. Eventually, they grow so large they can ...

Contraction isn’t an official word in economics, at least not like “recession” is, but it does describe a shrinking of jobs or production. String enough contractions across different sectors together ...

At the beginning of 2025, the U.S. economy faltered, experiencing its first contraction in three years. Faster-than-expected price increases and a dramatic increase in imports caused GDP to fall into ...