不況
ふきょう · fukyou · JLPT N1 · noun
recession
📉 不 = not + 況 = condition: an economy in 'not good' condition means recession
況 means condition or circumstances, so 不況 literally means unfavourable economic conditions. The same 況 appears in 状況 (jōkyō, situation).
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.