The US economy contracted by 32.9% from April through June, its worst drop on record, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. Business ground to a halt during the pandemic lockdown in the spring of this year, and America plunged into its first recession in 11 years, putting an end to the longest economic expansion in US history. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy. Between January a