The US economy has been boosted by the government's $168bn (Ј84bn) stimulus package, according to official figures.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.9% between April and June, the Department of Commerce said.
That compares with a figure of 0.9% in the first three months of the year. Meanwhile growth in the last three months of 2007 was downgraded to -0.2%.
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The stimulus package has given tax rebates to 130 million households.
Jobless claims rise
The most common definition of a recession is two consecutive three month periods of negative growth.
Officially in the US, a recession has not taken place until the National Bureau of Economic Research says this is the case, but this decision may not come for two years.
"We're in a recession. I don't know how they get the 1.9% in the second quarter," said Robert Macintosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston.
"I think the most troubling thing out of all the numbers this morning is the claims number. If that doesn't convince people we're in a recession, then nothing will."
Figures from the Department of Labor showed that the number of applications for unemployment benefit last week hit a five-year high.
Jobless claims reached 448,000, an increase of 44,000 from the previous week.
(BBC)
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