US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has dismissed claims that the country has slipped into recession.
"We're seeing a significant slowdown in growth," Yellen said on Thursday.
But a real recession is a "broad-scale slowdown in the economy," she said.
"That's not what we're seeing right now." The slowdown in economic growth was to be expected given how quickly the economy grew as it recovered from the pandemic and job losses.
Yellen also expressed optimism about whether the Fed's fight against inflation will lead to a serious rise in the unemployment rate, which stands at 3.6 percent.
The finance minister pointed to continued job creation, healthy household finances, rising consumer spending and business growth.
Employment rose 1.1 million jobs in the second quarter, in sharp contrast to the average loss of 240,000 jobs in the first three months of past recessions, Yellen said.
She commented just hours after the data was released, which showed the US economy contracted for a second straight quarter as higher interest rates slowed business investment and housing demand.
Economists speak of a technical recession when economic output falls for two quarters in a row - as is now the case in the USA.