Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday the U.S. economy is in a state of transition, not recession.
“When you look at the economy, job creation is continuing, household finances remain strong, consumers are spending and businesses are growing,” she said during a news conference.
Those comments, though, came on the same day that the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell 0.9% in the second quarter.
Coming on the heels of a 1.6% contraction in the first quarter, the two straight declines meet a commonly used definition of recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research, however, is the official arbiter of recessions, and likely won’t rule for months.
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