| The Associated Press analyzed nine economic recoveries since the Great Depression that lasted at least three years. By most measures, the recovery from the Great Recession of 2007-2009 is the worst. Investment in housing _ largely home construction and improvements _ has not been this weak since the 1950s. Here is the percentage difference between housing investment during the quarter when a recession ended and the quarter three years later: |
| 1948-1949 +3.6 percent |
| 1953-1954 +3.5 percent |
| 1960-1961 +41.7 percent |
| 1969-1970 +27.7 percent |
| 1973-1975 +62.8 percent |
| 1981-1982 +62.2 percent |
| 1990-1991 +39.0 percent |
| 2001 +27.6 percent |
| 2007-2009 +8 percent |