The world’s first economy shrinks 0.2%, causing two quarters of the declines
The United States entered a technical recession in the second quarter of 2022, when gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.2% after falling 0.4% in the first three months of the year. shrunk, according to the first estimate of data released this Thursday by the US government’s Office of Economic Analysis (BEA, for its acronym in English).
Technical recession is, according to the consensus of economists, called the economic situation that occurs when two quarters of economic contraction are chained together.
The BEA explained that between April and June there was a decline in private investment in inventories, in real estate investment, in government spending and in investment in non-residential fixed assets. However, these setbacks were partly offset by an increase in exports and consumer spending.
The agency also explained that the economic contraction in the second quarter came in a context of “sustained inflation”, low unemployment, rising interest rates and ongoing supply chain problems.
Due to this contraction, United States GDP at the end of the second quarter of 2022 was 2.5% higher than at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, before any impact from the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first quarter, this figure was 2.7% higher.
In pure annualized terms, the Bureau’s preferred way of presenting the data, US GDP shrank 0.9% in the second quarter of the year, compared with a 1.6% year-over-year decline in the first quarter.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
