Business cycle graph: peak, trough, expansion and contraction

An example figure from the Business Cycle generator.

Business cycle graph with Real GDP up the side, Time along the bottom and no numbers on the axes: a blue wave of real GDP rising from a dashed, upward-sloping long-run trend line to a high point labeled Peak, falling to a low point labeled Trough, then rising to a second, higher Peak and turning down, with an arrow to the fall after the first peak labeled Contraction and an arrow to the rise before the second peak labeled Expansion — Real GDP rising and falling over time around a dashed long-run trend that slopes upward, drawn with no numbers on the axes. Real GDP rises to a peak, falls to a trough, then rises to a second, higher peak and turns down again. Arrows label the fall after the first peak Contraction and the rise to the second peak Expansion.

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