Which of the following is a significant decline in general economic activity over an extended period that includes declining real income and rising unemployment? Recession. Not only does a recession decline real income and unemployment rise, trade and industrial activity are also reduced because of the fall of GDP. GDP is gross domestic product and it is the value of all goods and services produce over a set amount of time. Recessions can last for a few weeks or months and sometimes it can turn into years. When a country is in a recession it is in a very bad economic state.