The Great Recession was a period of economic decline in world markets that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, with the 2007-2008 financial crisis and 2007-2009 subprime mortgage crisis causing worldwide economic decline. From November 2007 to October 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States rose from 4.7% to 10%, with 8,700,000 jobs being shed. The crisis eventually abated in 2009, but the US unemployment rate was at 5%, still higher than before the recession occurred. The International Monetary Fund stated that it was the worst economic recession since World War II.