It's official: The US fell into recession in February, according to the central economic authority

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It's official: The US fell into recession in February, according to the central economic authority
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
  • The US fell into a recession in February, the National Bureau of Economic Research said on Monday. The NBER is considered the official arbiter of recessions.
  • That ended the 128-month economic expansion, the longest on record.
  • The committee acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic had led to an economic downturn with different characteristics and dynamics from previous recessions.
  • "The unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions," the committee said in a statement.
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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 of downturns.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said on Monday that the US economy peaked in February, marking the end of the record 128-month economic expansion that began in June 2009. It was also the beginning of a recession wrought by the coronavirus pandemic and the 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."

Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: The stock market is entering a new phase of a playbook that's thrived in past recessions. Here's how to tweak your portfolio to take advantage.

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

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The NBER acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic had led to an economic downturn with dynamics and characteristics that differ from previous recessions.

"Nonetheless, it concluded that the unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions," the committee said in a statement.

Read more: Stocks have met none of the 8 conditions that confirmed every new bull market in the post-war era — and one investment chief warns a relapse into a bear market is coming

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