The contagion quickly spread to other economies around the world, most notably in Europe. As a result of the Great Recession, the United States alone shed more than 8.7 million jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, causing the unemployment rate to double. In all the countries affected by the Great Recession, recovery was slow and uneven, and the broader social consequences of the downturn—including, in the United States, lower fertility rates, historically high levels of student debt, and diminished job prospects among young adults—were expected to linger for many years .
