As a general rule, the best stocks to invest in while the economy is plunged in a recession tend to be boring, get-the-job-done companies.

They have to be. In a recession, there's typically not a lot of money for much else.

While it usually takes six months to determine a recession has actually occurred, the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research took far less time before recently confirming that the U.S. indeed entered a recession in February.

Kiplinger's economic forecast is for a second-quarter drop in GDP of about 30% to 40%, and while we expect "a pretty good rebound in the second half of the year ... full recovery is likely to take until the end of 2021." Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes the world economy will remain in a weakened state all year, with GDP contracting 3% - well below its January projection of 3.3% growth - before rebounding with 5.8% growth in 2021.

The companies best suited to survive, if not thrive, in this kind of environment, are defensive stocks that provide products and services people simply can't live without.

Here, then, are 20 best stocks to invest in during a recession. Some of these might not be the greatest stocks to hold once the U.S. and global economies have returned to normal. But all of them have loads of worth - to investors and consumers alike - as long as times are tight.

Walmart

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Walmart (WMT, $121.24) CEO Doug McMillion appeared on The Today Show on April 10 to discuss coronavirus-sparked panic buying. First, consumers ordered food and other consumables. Then, they turned to entertainment items such as jigsaw puzzles and board games. Now, they're ordering hair coloring and beard trimmers.

All of these are things that you can buy at Walmart. Thus while many companies have suffered tremendous financial hardship during this crisis, Walmart was among the major U.S. corporations actually hiring en masse to keep up with increased demand. Specifically, WMT plans on hiring 150,000 new workers, and it might need to expand past that. Of those jobs, about 80% to 85% are temporary in nature. However, that still means as many as 22,500 people could stay with Walmart on a permanent basis once the crisis ends.

That's good for employees. That's good for the employer.

Back in 2008, Slate magazine wondered why Walmart was thriving while the economy was tanking. The answer: Consumers could no longer afford to trade up; they were forced to survive by trading down. The 2020 recession could spark a similar trend, putting more money in the Walton family's bank accounts.

During the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, Walmart's stock delivered 9% on a total-return basis (price plus dividends). By comparison, the S&P 500 lost 34% over the same period. It looks like WMT might be one of the best stocks to invest in this time around, too. Since the bull market peaked Feb. 19, Walmart's stock has posted a 3% gain versus a 4% decline for the index. Any signs of economic weakness should expand WMT's outperformance compared to the S&P 500. There could be plenty more where that came from.

Dollar General

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Just as it's a good sign Walmart is bringing on workers, the fact that Dollar General (, $186.00) is hiring 50,000 people by the end of April bodes well, too. Although many of the 50,000 jobs will be temporary, the