Whether the country is officially in recession is determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization. The group considers several economic indicators, as well as the severity and duration of a downturn.
The NBER says the most recent recession lasted from March 2001 until November 2001 and that the economy has been in "expansion" since then.
The group typically does not declare a recession for anywhere from 6 to 18 months after its arrival.
So far, the group has been mum and it could stay so for quite a while. But with layoffs on the rise and inflation hurting people's wallets, many - including most recently Warren Buffett - say it hardly matters whether we're "officially" in recession. It already hurts like one.
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