Old Nick survived in recession (5)
I believe the answer is:
devil
'old nick' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'survived in recession' is the wordplay.
'survived' becomes 'lived' ('live' can be a synonym of 'survive').
'in recession' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'lived' written backwards gives 'DEVIL'.
(Other definitions for devil that I've seen before include "Fiend" , "Coat spicily; do hackwork" , "Beelzebub, Satan" , "Unsurpassed" , "Demon" .)