One rule of thumb is that a recession occurs when gross domestic product, the broadest measure of U.S. growth, contracts for two straight quarters.
But that's not the official definition. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private organization of economists that formally defines recessions, say they occur when there is: "a significant decline in economic activity" lasting for more than "a few months," reflected in a range of economic data, including GDP, incomes and jobs.
The bureau makes its determination retroactively. So the economy can actually be in recession for some time before it is officially declared so. The bureau, for example, declared in November 2008 that the Great Recession had begun 11 months earlier.
Second wall planned across Arizona as Trump administration doubles down on border
