Both Uses of

recession

in

A Crisis of Confidence Speech by Jimmy Carter

It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper – deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession.
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recession = a period when the economy does poorly

And this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives."

Definitions:

(1) (recession as in: economic recession)
a period when the economy does poorly

Most people think of a recession as any period of two consecutive quarters of shrinking, real GDP.

Officially, a nonprofit organization, the National Bureau of Economic Research, determines when the U.S. economy has had a recession. Their proclamation is often a year after the recession started and almost never fails to call a recession indicated by the 2-quarter rule-of-thumb.
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
There are several less common meanings for recession. They include: a small concavity; or: the withdrawal of the clergy and choir from the chancel to the vestry at the end of a church service; or: the act of becoming more distant.