U.S. Enters Technical Recession in Second Quarter

The U.S. economy entered a technical recession in the second quarter of 2022. The real GDP of the country shrunk by 0.9% in Q2 according to preliminary numbers released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In Q1, the economy had already decreased by 1.6 percent. The current recession is so far a technical and an unusual one, as it doesn't hit all the hallmarks of economic decline. Employment, for example, has climbed as of late, while consumer spending has stagnated but not fallen significantly. However, the tightening of the funds rate by the Fed following high inflation has been a factor that has curtailed economic growth as has been the changed import behavior of U.S. companies following supply chain struggles.

The U.S. also suffered a short but deep recession in Q1 and Q2 of 2020 when it experienced the steepest decline ever recorded in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. GDP growth jumped up again in Q3 of that year, however.

The Biden administration pointed out that the official definition of a recession was not two quarters of negative growth in a row, but as pointed out by BEA "a significant decline in economic activity over more than a few months, which is assessed using several indicators, including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes." Yet, even a technical recession will further stoke fears of economic trouble that are already running high in the U.S.