One cries out about southern downturn (9)
I believe the answer is:
recession
'downturn' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'one cries out about southern' is the wordplay.
'out' indicates an anagram (out can mean wrong or inaccurate).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'one'+'cries'='onecries'
'onecries' with letters rearranged gives 'recesion'.
'recesion' placed around 's' is 'RECESSION'.
(Other definitions for recession that I've seen before include "Slump" , "Down-turn" , "Period of temporary economic decline" , "falling back" , "Decline in economic activity and prosperity" .)