The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.6 percent annual rate from April through June, the government said Thursday in an upgrade from its initial estimate. It marked a second straight quarter of economic contraction, which meets one informal sign of a recession.

Most economists, though, have said they doubt the economy is in or on the verge of a recession, given that America's job market remains robust, with strong hiring, low unemployment and widespread openings. Still, inflation is near a four-decade high and is punishing consumers and businesses. And the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to tame inflation through steep interest rate hikes are raising the risk of an eventual recession.

In its revised estimate Thursday, the Commerce Department calculated that the nation's gross domestic product the broadest measure of economic output — contracted last quarter, though less than the 1.6 percent annual decline in the January-March period. In its previous estimate for the April-June quarter, the government had estimated that the economy had shrunk at a 0.9 percent rate.

Consumer spending, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, grew at a 1.5 percent annual pace last quarter, faster than Commerce initially estimated but down from 1.8 percent from January through March.

In recent weeks, inflation pressures have begun to slow modestly, driven by a steady drop in gas prices from their lofty highs, along with lower measures of overall inflation. In July, consumer prices were 8.5 percent more than they were a year earlier, down from a 9.1 percent year-over-year jump in June. And on a monthly basis, prices were unchanged from June to July.