Times have been tough lately. US President Donald Trump is announcing tariffs, meanwhile back home we almost had a war. We have been consuming way too much information, all the while being anxious about the future. In such a time, a new word has entered the lexicon — “recession indicators”. To gauge their way through this economic instability, Gen Z isn’t quoting GDP graphs or inflation rates. Instead, they’re clocking in their clues from lipstick sales and skirt lengths. Welcome to the age of Recession Core.

Recession indicators are informal signs of an incoming recession. They don’t really need to have any formal backing, they are generally circulated around the Internet as memes. One of the most outlandish recession indicators is the cartoon show Phineas and Ferb. The show first aired in 2007, right before the market crash in 2008. And now, for the first time in 10 years, a new season of the show is set to air in June. 

Sunday mid-day does a deep dive into these informal indicators: What are they? How exactly does something become a recession indicator? And most importantly, are they legitimate?