Business cycles are a type of fluctuation found in the aggregate economic activity of a nation -- a cycle that consists of expansions occurring at about the same time in many economic activities, followed by similarly general contractions (recessions).
This sequence of changes is recurrent but not periodic.
Business cycles are comprised of concerted cyclical upswings and downswings in the broad measures of economic activity—output, employment, income, and sales.
The alternating phases of the business cycle are expansions and contractions (also called recessions).
Business cycles are marked by the alternation of the phases of expansion and contraction in aggregate economic activity, and the movement among economic variables in each phase of the cycle.
Aggregate economic activity is represented by not only real GDP but also the aggregate measures of industrial production, employment, income, and sales, which are the key coincident economic indicators used for the official determination of U.S. business cycle peak and trough dates.

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