How to describe figures up and down

A. Going up
You use a number of verbs to describe amounts or figures going up
1. BT shares advance in active trading.
2. Trade surplus jumps to record level.
3. Petrol prices set to skyrocket.
4. Unemployment leaps to ten-year high.
5. Yahoo! soars as internet explosion continues.
6. VM profits up as car sales continue to surge.
B. Going down
You also use a number of verbs to describe amounts of figures going down.
7. 1,000 jobs axed as defence plant closes.
8. European central bank cuts rate in surprise move.
9. Megacorp eases on profits warning.
10. September retail sales plummet.
11. Government slashes income tax to ten per cent.
12. Euro dives to new lows.

C. Peaks and troughs
If a figure rises to a level and then stops rising, remaining at that level, it levels off and remains steady or stable.
If a figure reaches its highest level - a peak - and then goes down, it peaks at that level. if it reaches its lowest level - a trough - and then bottoms out, it falls to that level and then starts rising again.
D. boom and bust
Demand is the amount of goods and services that people want in a particular period.
A boom is when there is rising demand, and other indicators are strong.
stagnation is when the economy is growing slowly, or not at all.
Stagflation is when slow growth is combined with prices that are increasing fast.
Recession is a period when there is negative growth, a period when the economy is producing less. A slump is a very bad recession. A depression is a very bad slump.