1981

begin quote:
"In the U.S. the workforce hasn't been this small relative to the population since 1981" end quote
from page 24 in the latest Time magazine september 24th 2012 page 24.

begin quote from Wikipedia under "List of Recessions"

Name	Dates	Duration (months)	Time since previous recession (months)	Peak unemploy­ment	GDP decline (peak to trough)	Characteristics

1980 recession	Jan–July 1980	6 months	4 years 10 months	7.8% (July 1980)	−2.2%	The NBER considers a short recession to have occurred in 1980, followed by a short period of growth and then a deep recession. Unemployment remained relatively elevated in between recessions. The recession began as the Federal Reserve, under Paul Volcker, raised interest rates dramatically to fight the inflation of the 1970s. The early '80s are sometimes referred to as a "double-dip" or "W-shaped" recession.[30][40]
Early 1980s recession	July 1981 – Nov 1982	1 year 4 months	1 year	10.8% (Nov 1982)	−2.7%	The Iranian Revolution sharply increased the price of oil around the world in 1979, causing the 1979 energy crisis. This was caused by the new regime in power in Iran, which exported oil at inconsistent intervals and at a lower volume, forcing prices up. Tight monetary policy in the United States to control inflation led to another recession. The changes were made largely because of inflation carried over from the previous decade because of the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis.[41][42]
Early 1990s recession	July 1990 – Mar 1991	8 months	7 years 8 months	7.8% (June 1992)	−1.4%	After the lengthy peacetime expansion of the 1980s, inflation began to increase and the Federal Reserve responded by raising interest rates from 1986 to 1989. This weakened but did not stop growth, but some combination of the subsequent 1990 oil price shock, the debt accumulation of the 1980s, and growing consumer pessimism combined with the weakened economy to produce a brief recession.[43][44][45]
Early 2000s recession	March 2001–Nov 2001	8 months	10 years	6.3% (June 2003)	−0.3%	The 1990s were the longest period of growth in American history. The collapse of the speculative dot-com bubble, a fall in business outlays and investments, and the September 11th attacks,[46] brought the decade of growth to an end. Despite these major shocks, the recession was brief and shallow.[47] Without the September 11th attacks, the economy might have avoided recession altogether.[46]
Late-2000s recession	Dec 2007 – June 2009[48][49]	1 year 6 months	6 years 1 month	10.0% (October 2009)[50]	−5.1%	The subprime mortgage crisis led to the collapse of the United States housing bubble. Falling housing-related assets contributed to a global financial crisis, even as oil and food prices soared. The crisis led to the failure or collapse of many of the United States' largest financial institutions: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG, as well as a crisis in the automobile industry. The government responded with an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout and $787 billion fiscal stimulus package. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared the end of this recession over a year after the end date.[51] end  quote from wikipedia.