US economy shrank 0.9% in second quarter

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. economy shrank 0.9% in the second quarter of this year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday morning, marking the second quarter in a row that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) has declined.

The economy contracted 1.6% in the first quarter of 2022.

According to the Commerce Department, the decline in GDP “reflected decreases in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by increases in exports and personal consumption expenditures (PCE).”

The latest contraction in GDP this year has raised fears of a recession.

As ABC News’ Economics Correspondent Rebecca Jarvis notes, “That makes it two back-to-back quarters of economic activity declining here in the United States — and that is considered on Wall Street a strong signal that we either are in a recession, or will be soon.”

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