In the summer of 2022, politicians, economists and market professionals engaged in a great semantic debate over whether or not the U.S. economy was in recession. The argument, invariably influenced by politics, came down to how you defined the word recession.

According to the general definition—two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP)—the U.S. entered a recession in the summer of 2022.

The organization that defines U.S. business cycles, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), takes a different view. According to the NBER’s definition of recession—a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months—we were not in a recession in the summer of 2022.

“We have a hard time believing the economy is in recession today, given a strong labor market and corporate earnings growth,” said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion Advisor Solutions. “We also remind ourselves that recessions are uncommon, as our economy was in recession just 8% of the time over the past 30 years.”

Nevertheless, a recession may arrive soon. The Federal Reserve is determined to raise interest rates until inflation starts to moderate from sky-high levels. That may cause the economy to contract and enter recession.

To keep tabs on whether an economic contraction is imminent, we’ve devised the following recession tracker, which monitors 15 key indicators. Once most of the signs point downward, a recession is nigh.

Recession Tracker: Major Economic Data

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

  • Most Recent Report: Q2 GDP -0.6% (preliminary)
  • Grade: Bad

It’s never good when the economy contracts, much less two quarters in a row. While the revised second quarter number was an improvement over the initial reading, that will do little to reassure U.S. markets and households about the economy’s health.

“[I]t’s still not enough to change the current economic narrative,” said Rusty Vanneman, chief investment strategist, Orion Advisor Solutions.

What could brighten people’s outlook are better GDP numbers, which could arrive soon. The economy is expected to grow by a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow tracker.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

  • Most Recent Report: August CPI +8.3%
  • Grade: Bad

Inflation may have moderated somewhat from June and July, but it’s still sky-high and wrecking the purchasing power of everyday Americans. Price growth is so hot that the Fed is willing to increase unemployment and slow the economy even further to get inflation under control.

The picture is somewhat brighter if you look at the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures index (PCE), which strips out volatile food and energy prices. In July, core PCE showed prices growing at an annualized rate of 4.6%. That’s still more than double the Fed’s 2% target for core PCE.

ISM Manufacturing Index

  • Most Recent Report: August ISM Manufacturing 52.8
  • Grade: Good

This survey of corporate executives in industrial companies has been positive for a long time and remained so in August. According to this index, sentiment among executives has been positive—aka a reading above 50—for 27 consecutive months.

The Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) purchasing managers index is a survey of purchasing and supply executives in over 400 industrial companies throughout the U.S. The most recent report augured a positive moment for inflation’s outlook, with the prices paid metric falling to its lowest level since June 2020.

Industrial Production

  • Most Recent Report: August Industrial Production -0.2%
  • Grade: Neutral

Industrial production declined in August, as businesses struggle with a difficult environment.

“Industrial production lost momentum in August falling 0.2%,” per a Wells Fargo Securities report. “While a 2.3% drop in utilities and a flat reading for mining offered no help, manufacturing did eke out a scant 0.1% gain, but regional Fed surveys portend trouble on the horizon for the factory sector.”

The strong dollar and the weak housing markets remain big hurdles for industrial production through the end of 2022 and beyond.

Retail Sales

  • Most Recent Report: August Retail Sales +0.3%
  • Grade: Neutral

The good news: Retail sales gained in August. The bad? The July numbers were revised downward.

“July retail sales was significantly revised lower so taken together with the August report, consumer demand for goods is clearly slowing,” said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial.

Weakening consumer demand is one of the effects the Fed is hoping to engineer by raising interest rates.

Conference Board Leading Indicators

  • Most Recent Report: August Leading Indicators -0.3%
  • Grade: Bad

The leading index dropped by 0.3% in August, the sixth monthly decline in a row, signaling that the economy is slowing. This troubling development is one of the best indications that the economy may be heading into a recession beginning next year.

“We don’t yet think broad economic conditions are consistent with recession,” noted two Wells Fargo economists in a recent report. “But activity is slowing, and the trend decline in the index supports our view that the economy may slip into a recession by the beginning of next year.”

Recession Tracker: Markets Data

The Stock Market (S&P 500)

  • YTD Performance: -20% as of September 21
  • Grade: Bad

After a two-month bear market rally, stocks have broadly declined after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech in late August and a higher-than-expected inflation September inflation report. The Fed’s decision to raise interest by another 75 basis points only added to investor misery.

Powell reiterated the Fed’s commitment to higher interest rates to bring down inflation. Wall Street loves nothing more than cheap money, and traders had been hoping that the Fed would pivot from its hawkish stance given less-than-stellar economic data.

“[F]or the near term at least, the pain will be the name of the game,” said CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall of the stock market.

Treasury Yield Curve

  • 10-year / 2-year Spread: -0.39%, as of Sept. 21
  • Grade: Bad

When short-term interest rates yield more than longer-term rates, it’s called an inverted yield curve. This is typically a tell-tale sign of an impending recession, as the market believes economic growth will be weak. The yield curve has been inverted since early July.

Recession Tracker: Jobs Data

Unemployment Rate

  • Most Recent Report: August Unemployment 3.7%
  • Grade: Good

Despite wobbliness throughout the economy and concerns about a further slowdown in the coming months, the U.S. labor market remains robust. The unemployment rate has recovered to its pre-pandemic level, and is down 2 percentage points from the same time last year.

Meanwhile, employers added 315,000 jobs in August after increasing payroll by 526,000 in July. Essentially, anyone who wants a job can find one.

The Fed has two mandates: Maximize employment and keep prices stable. A strong labor situation has allowed the Fed to focus on bringing down inflation.

Initial Jobless Claims

  • Most Recent Report: Sept. 10 Initial Claims 213,000
  • Grade: Good

The initial jobless claims numbers are released every week, and provide a look at how many people have begun claiming unemployment checks. Rising initial claims suggest more people are losing their jobs (and claiming unemployment).

Right now, the level of initial jobless claims look pretty strong. However, they’ve increased a bit since earlier in the year as the Fed has increased interest rates. For instance, jobless claims were around 170,000 in March, compared to more than 210,000 now. A further increase would be consistent with the Fed’s push to lower inflation.

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)

  • Most Recent Report: July JOLTS 11.2 million
  • Grade: Good

Even as the unemployment rate remains low, the total number of available jobs is near recent highs. There were roughly 7 million job openings in July 2019, compared to more than 11.2 million now. For every two job openings, there’s about one person available to work, Roach says.

Recession Tracker: Economic Confidence Data

University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey

  • Most Recent Report: August Consumer Confidence 58.2
  • Grade: Bad

According to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers, consumer sentiment ticked up in August, rising by 13% compared to the month before. Meanwhile, consumer expectations increased even more dramatically, largely thanks to moderating energy prices.

This is a positive development for an index that has consistently shown that Americans were morose about their financial position.

“The relative relief felt by consumers reflected in their inflation expectations,” said Joanne Hsu, the director of the Surveys of Consumers. “The median expected year-ahead inflation rate was 4.8%, down from 5.2% last month and its lowest reading in [eight] months.”

Still, consumer sentiment is down 17% from this point last year, showing that there’s still much room to recover.

NFIB Small Business Optimism Index

  • Most Recent Report: August NFIB small business index +1.9 points
  • Grade: Bad

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index rose in August by 1.9 points to 91.8. However, the index has remained below its 48-year average for eight consecutive months.

“It’s a complicated environment,” said Jason Greenberg, chief economist at Homebase. 

Businesses, per Greenberg, are struggling with high costs and finding employees, but feeling good about the future. More than 64% of businesses in Homebase’s Owner Pulse Surveys believe they’ll be better off in 12 months, compared to 57% of organizations in July.

Recession Tracker: Housing Market Data

Housing Starts

  • Most Recent Report: August Housing Starts +12.2%
  • Grade: Bad

Home building rebounded in August, rising by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.9% in August, after dropping nearly 11% in July. Rising rent helped push demand for construction of multi-family housing.

The overall housing situation, though, is down thanks to increased borrowing costs and high prices.

NAHB Home Builders Index

  • Most Recent Report: September NAHB 46
  • Grade: Bad

U.S. home builders are not optimistic. The Home Builders Index fell another three points in September to 46, indicating that most builders view the housing market as poor. This was the ninth consecutive decline, which dovetails with higher mortgage rates and fewer single-homes being constructed.

The South is the only region in the U.S. above the breakeven mark of 50.

What Is the Recession Tracker Telling Us?

The 15 data points in the Forbes Advisor recession tracker had the following grades:

  • Good: 4
  • Neutral: 2
  • Bad: 9</li>

The economy may not officially be in a recession, but it’s not looking good. Remember that not every data point we rank above would be weighted equally in deciding whether the U.S. is in recession.

The strongest parts of the economy are concentrated in the labor market, thanks to low unemployment and many unfilled jobs.

Related: How Long Do Recessions Last?

Meanwhile, consumers seem to be enduring high inflation better than they did earlier in 2022, and hopefully prices will continue to moderate in the coming months.

The parts of the economy susceptible to higher borrowing costs, such as the housing market and stocks, have not fared well.

How Does the NBER Define a Recession?

Despite negative economic developments this year, the NBER is not ready to say that the current economic expansion is over. That’s perfectly fair, even as GDP has declined for two consecutive quarters since employers are adding workers at an impressive clip.

The NBER is looking for a big drop in economic activity across the economy, not just in a few sections, and the labor market is a glaring outlier. Moreover, the decline generally needs to last more than a few months.

A big exception, of course, was the recent Covid Recession, which lasted just two months. But that decline was so severe and widespread that the NBER had to be flexible with its definitions.

Generally speaking, though, the NBER will want to see each of its three criteria for the decline-depth, diffusion and duration-met before making a call.

What Metrics Does the NBER Consider for Recessions?

The NBER is vague about which exact economic indicators it considers since it wants wiggle room to determine recession calls.

It typically considers items like “real personal income less transfers (PILT), nonfarm payroll employment, real personal consumption expenditures, wholesale-retail sales adjusted for price changes, employment as measured by the household survey, and industrial production,” per its website.

However, it doesn’t assign a particular weight to any indicator.

A recession is a change of direction in economic activity, according to the NBER. Determining how and when that change occurs is a little bit of art and science.

When Was the Last Recession?

According to the NBER, the last recession occurred between February 2020 and April 2020.

That means the economy was already expanding again by May 2020, thanks to some state governments loosening restrictions and unprecedented direct payments and unemployment insurance helping consumers make-do.

Before that, the economy had last contracted between December 2007 and June 2009, which is otherwise known as the Great Recession. While that recession wasn’t as severe as the Covid Recession, it did last longer.

The expansion between the Great Recession and the Covid Recession is the longest business expansion in U.S. history, going back to 1854.