Recession 

A downturn in economic activity on a large scale, such as in the U.S. economy.
The Commerce Department defines a recession as two or more quarters of decline in output, as measured by Gross National Product (GNP) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Remarks: Bond funds including mutual funds (open-end and closed-end, actively managed and indexed), exchange-traded funds and unit investment trusts offer a convenient and affordable way to invest in a diversified portfolio of bonds, but a bond fund investment can differ from a bond investment in ways that are important to understand.