Market Minute

August 2022 – By Scott Rosenquist, CFA®

Economic data released last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed the U.S. economy shrank by an .90% annualized rate in the second quarter.  This follows the 1.6% decline in the first quarter.  While two back-to-back negative reports can be commonly viewed as a recession, it does raise the question what exactly is a recession? I expect this topic to be front and center as additional economic data covering employment, consumption and industrial activity will be heavily scrutinized.  GDP reports are subject to revision by the BEA in the following months.