Washington: America, the world’s largest economy, recorded negative growth in the second quarter of 2022, April-June. With the second consecutive quarter of negative GDP growth, economists pointed out that the country has slipped into a ‘technical recession’.
Growth was negative 1.6 percent in the first quarter, January-March, and negative 0.6 percent in the June quarter. At the same time, President Joe Biden and the US administration have grasped that the situation is at least marginally better than the previous estimate of a negative 0.9 percent second-quarter growth.
The negative growth in the first quarter in the wake of Covid was the worst since 2020. The reaction of the Biden administration is that the view of the country recovering from this was visible in the June quarter and there is no fear of recession. The administration cited low unemployment, high wages and an increase in consumer spending as signs that the economy is recovering.
Inflation eased to 8.5 percent last month from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, which is also a good sign. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said that the country is not in recession.