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Graphic by: Amanda Buck

Officially, the Great Recession lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. A mere 18 months—about average, as recessions go. Yet if the trauma this time feels deep and lasting, that may be because, as the figures on these pages show, so many disruptions have upended national life at once.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, nearly every state faces a budget shortfall, and hundreds of banks have shut their doors. The young are unemployed, living at home, and playing video games. The ranks of third-party candidates have swollen, militias have proliferated, and national leaders of both parties have seen their support decline. Of course, times of flux are often times of anxiety and unrest. But as the economy begins its slow and stuttering recovery, the vast changes wrought by this recession will continue to reverberate for many years—in ways predictable and otherwise.

Souces: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau; Association of American Publishers; Bureau of Economic Analysis; Bureau of Labor Statistics; CBS News Poll; Census Bureau; Congressional Budget Office; Damodaran Online, New York University; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Federal Reserve; Food and Nutrition Service; Freddie Mac; Gallup; Internet Movie Database; Lending Processing Services Inc.; Market Rates Insight; National Association of Realtors; National Conference of State Legislatures; The New York Times; Office of Personnel Management; Pew Research Center for the People & the Press; Secret Service; Smart Politics, University of Minnesota; Southern Poverty Law Center; TreasuryDirect; United States Courts; Yahoo Finance