While two consecutive quarters of negative numbers is the common understanding of a recession, that is not the official definition.

A group called the National Bureau of Economic Research is in charge of officially declaring the beginning and end of economic downturns -- and the NBER has tended to wait several months before making any decisions about recession dates.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that a recession is "a broad-based contraction in the economy that affects many sectors" and added that she would be "amazed" if the NBER were to say that the economy is now in a recession.

But you can likely expect a lot of headlines and political talk this week about a recession if the second-quarter GDP report is bad.

While two consecutive quarters of negative numbers is the common understanding of a recession, that is not the official definition.

A group called the National Bureau of Economic Research is in charge of officially declaring the beginning and end of economic downturns -- and the NBER has tended to wait several months before making any decisions about recession dates.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that a recession is "a broad-based contraction in the economy that affects many sectors" and added that she would be "amazed" if the NBER were to say that the economy is now in a recession.

But you can likely expect a lot of headlines and political talk this week about a recession if the second-quarter GDP report is bad.