Go to the St. Louis Federal Reserve FRED database, and find data on recession dating (USRECQ) and real GDP (GDPC1), real consumption (PCECC96), and real private domestic investment (GPDIC1).

a) Using the recession dating series (USRECQ), when did the most recent recession begin and end? (Use the “quarterly” setting for frequency, and report the recession dates by year and quarter.)

b) For the data series above, calculate the quarter-to-quarter annualized growth rate of real GDP, real consumption, and real private domestic investment during the quarters of the recession in part (a), and do the same for the quarter after the recession ends through the most recent data available. To calculate quarter-to-quarter annualized growth rates, calculate the percentage change from the previous quarter’s data, and then multiply by 4 to “annualize” the result. Now, calculate the average growth rates of these data during the recession and post-recession periods.

c) Based on your answers to part (b), classify real GDP, real consumption, and real private domestic investment as procyclical, countercyclical, or acyclical.