With the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, February marked the end of the US's longest economic expansion in history and entered a recession.br So said the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, in a statement issued on Monday.br The designation was expected, but was remarkably swift, coming a mere four months after the recession began. The committee usually takes far longer.br According to Reuters, US gross domestic product fell at a 5.0 annualized rate in the first three months of the year.br The unemployment rate rose from a record low of 3.5 in February, hitting 14.7 in April and 13.3 in May.br The outcome for the April to June period is expected to show an even worse annualized decline of perhaps 20 or more.