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business cycle investment & finance definition
A
long-term pattern of improvements and downturns in the economy. A business
cycle typically has four stages: expansion, prosperity, contraction, and
recession. Eventually a recession will be followed by expansion. A business
cycle typically is tracked by looking at gross domestic product data.
Employment levels, retail sales, and industrial productivity are some of the
other economic indicators that show whether a business cycle is shifting from
one stage to another. Business cycles may also be used in reference to an
industry or company.
See business cycle in Wall Street Words
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