The terms have no formal distinction that I am aware of. The term 'depression' is simply not used any more. We aren't technically even in a recession now because GDP is expanding.
In the early 80's recession, unemployment peaked at higher than the this time, and that was called a recession, so I guess that's a plausible reason that this dip is not called a depression., even though it will have been so prolonged.
The unemployment rate went higher than 20% in the Great Depression (I suppose there is considerable debate over whether those measurements are equivalent to today's measurements, however), which creates another reason.
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Things were a lot worse for a lot more people in the Great Depression than they are now.
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As you point out else-thread, the measurements don't quite match up.
Sure, we don't have crowds at soup kitchens, and people selling pencils and apples on corners.
But I think U-6 (which I think is still at 16+%) is a closer match to the 20% rate from the 30s.
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In the early 80's recession, unemployment peaked at higher than the this time, and that was called a recession, so I guess that's a plausible reason that this dip is not called a depression., even though it will have been so prolonged.
The unemployment rate went higher than 20% in the Great Depression (I suppose there is considerable debate over whether those measurements are equivalent to today's measurements, however), which creates another reason.
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