EXPLAINER: Recession fears grow. But how high is the risk?

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation is at a 40-year high. Stock prices are sinking. The Federal Reserve is making borrowing much costlier. And the economy actually shrank in the first three months of this year. Is the United States at risk of enduring another recession, just two years after emerging from the last one? For now, even the more pessimistic economists don’t expect a downturn anytime soon. Despite the inflation squeeze, consumers — the primary driver of the economy — are still spending at a healthy pace.