With a 8% unemployment rate, why is that a recession?

I don't know very much about economics, but why is a 8% unemployment rate called a recession? I know some other factors play into the recession like foreclosures and stuff, but isn't a 90% employment rate enough to hold up the economy? Why shouldn't it be? There must be some fraudulent stuff happening behind the scenes. The majority of Americans are still working, yet we're in a recession. Why?

Also, I wrote an article about this. It's also about what we can do to get out of the "recession". It's called Is the economy really that bad? Here's the link: