In August 2008, the United States economy lost 259,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent. The country was in the midst of a stretch of twenty-three consecutive months of job losses. That same month, the startup Airbnb was officially formed. Seven months later, in March 2009, the U.S. economy lost 824,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.7 percent, on its way to peaking at 10 percent shortly after. That same month, the startup Uber launched a prototype, and Airbnb was admitted to startup accelerator Y Combinator.
