The early 2000s recession mainly affected developed countries between 2000-2001 and the United States from 2002-2003. While some economists disagree on whether it was officially a recession, it was a decline in economic activity predicted by economists due to slowing growth in East Asia from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The recession was less severe than the previous two global recessions. The US economy was officially in recession from March-November 2001 according to the NBER.