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The discussion at the time was centered around GDP data that showed the economy contracted in the first two quarters of last year. Back-to-back quarterly declines, a situation some analysts refer to as “technical recession,” is usually a good indicator of a true recession. But it turns out not this time, the C.D. Howe report finds.

Continued to Expand

The study calculated diffusion indexes using various methodologies to convey “in a single number the extent to which the downs or ups of an economy are widespread in any given period.” It found that in the first two quarters of last year, a majority of industries continued to expand even as aggregate output fell, which isn’t consistent with an economy in a recession. That conclusion is also in line with data showing employment was growing at the time, another sign the economy wasn’t in recession.

“All the methodologies suggest the negative oil price shock that led to a contractionary economy in the first half of 2015 was not diffuse enough to warrant a recession call,” Kronick wrote in the report. Interestingly, the data also finds evidence to suggest the 2008-2009 recession may have been longer than initially thought.

The C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council will use the report as a tool when they make their official call in the next few months, said Kyle Murphy, a spokesman. If the institute chooses not to label the contraction a recession, it would mark only the second time a back-to-back quarterly contraction wasn’t identified as one, the last occurrence being in 1970.