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US flag at a container port in Long Beach, California
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MARK RALSTON/AFP
The US economy contracted again in the spring.
After a decline in economic output at the beginning of the year, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an annualized 0.9 percent in the second quarter.
This was announced by the Department of Commerce in Washington after an initial estimate.
Analysts, however, had expected slight growth of 0.4 percent.
Since the US economy shrank by an annualized 1.6 percent in the first quarter, the definition of a technical recession is met.
This is what economists talk about when economic output falls two quarters in a row.
US growth figures are extrapolated for the year, i.e. annualized.
They are therefore not directly comparable with growth data from Europe, where this is not the case.
To approximate a growth rate comparable to Europe, you would have to divide the US rate by four.
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