US economic activity contracted at an annual 0.5% pace in the third quarter, according to government data unrevised from an estimate last month.
The report on gross domestic product (GDP) for the July-September quarter is believed to be the start of a steep downturn for the world's largest economy that intensified in the past few months.
Earlier this month, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) said a recession began in December 2007 even though there had not been two consecutive quarters of declines.
The third quarter saw an abrupt turn from GDP growth of 2.8% in the second quarter, although analysts said that figure was skewed by a surge in exports and consumer spending boosted by one-time tax rebates.
Many economists say the downturn in the fourth quarter could be much worse, reflecting a credit crunch and ongoing woes in housing and manufacturing. The first estimate for fourth-quarter GDP is due in late January.
The Commerce Department also said new home sales in the US plunged 2.9% to 407,000 in November, the lowest level since January 1991. The November 2008 figure reflected a 35.3% drop from the same month in 2007. Sales of existing US homes also slumped 8.6% in November, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed.
