Washington  - The United States has been in an economic recession since December 2007, the country's official arbiter of economic growth said Monday.

The announcement by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private grouping of the country's top economists, marks the first recession in the United States since
2001.

The NBER said it had rated the world's largest economy in recession after a private conference call between its members held on Friday. A recession is typically rated as two straight quarters of contracting growth, but the NBER committee stressed that its measures are much broader.

The NBER's analysis focuses on domestic production and employment, both of which have fallen dramatically in the midst of the country's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. (dpa)