by Andrew Moran
The U.S. economy contracted in the second quarter, marking two consecutive quarters of negative growth, which is a common definition of a recession.
The gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.9 percent at an annualized pace, following a drop of 1.6 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The market had penciled in a gain of 0.5 percent during the April-to-June span.
The decline in GDP reflected declines in inventories (-2.01 percent), residential investment (-0.71 percent), and government spending (-0.33 percent). But this was offset by gains in exports (+1.43 percent) and consumer spending (+0.7 percent)…