US IN RECESSION SINCE FEBRUARY, ECONOMIC AUTHORITY REVEALS

The US officially fell into a recession in February, ending the longest economic expansion since 1854, according to the committee that serves as the official arbiter downturns, Carmen Reinicke wrote for Business Insider on June 9, 2020.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) said on Monday that the US economy peaked in February, marking the end of the record economic expansion that began in June 2009 and ran for 128 months. It also served as the beginning of a recession wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and sweeping shutdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19.

While some analysts consider a recession two consecutive quarters of declining economic activity, the NBER considers a recession "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, normally visible in production, employment, and other indicators."

In its process — which can often take up to a year to determine a recession's start date— the committee also takes into account the depth of the contraction, its duration, and whether activity declined broadly across the economy.