Recession hit US in February, ending record-long expansion

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
WASHINGTON  — The U.S. economy entered a recession in February, a group of economists declared Monday, ending the longest expansion on record.
The economists said employment peaked in February and fell sharply afterward, marking the beginning of the downturn.
The economists make up a committee within the National Bureau of Economic Research, a trade group that determines when recessions begin and end. It defines a recession as “a decline in economic activi