When you think about a shrinking economy, what comes to mind?

Factories shutting down. A wave of job losses and few open positions. Huge financial losses that batter most industries.

That's not what America is seeing right now, even though the country's gross domestic product has declined for two consecutive quarters, meeting one technical definition of a recession.

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So what is happening, and where could we be headed? The answer to both questions could be found in the country's stockrooms.

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Breaking it down: US GDP for the second quarter fell at an annualized rate of 0.9%, according to the first reading from the Commerce Department published Thursday. That followed a contraction of 1.6% during the first three months of the year.

The data stoked debate about whether the United States is already experiencing a recession, which economists have warned is a risk as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and inflation curbs consumer spending.

When you think about a shrinking economy, what comes to mind?

Factories shutting down. A wave of job losses and few open positions. Huge financial losses that batter most industries.

That's not what America is seeing right now, even though the country's gross domestic product has declined for two consecutive quarters, meeting one technical definition of a recession.

*

So what is happening, and where could we be headed? The answer to both questions could be found in the country's stockrooms.

*

Breaking it down: US GDP for the second quarter fell at an annualized rate of 0.9%, according to the first reading from the Commerce Department published Thursday. That followed a contraction of 1.6% during the first three months of the year.

The data stoked debate about whether the United States is already experiencing a recession, which economists have warned is a risk as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and inflation curbs consumer spending.