Conversation so far:
What happened to the economy when George H. W. Bush was president?
The unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7.8 percent in mid-1991.

Question: Was the economy in recession?
Self-contained rewrite: Was the economy in recession when unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7.8 percent in mid-1991?