GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the U.S. and is considered the best barometer of the country's economic fitness.

Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller national home price index released Tuesday tumbled a record 16.6 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago. Prices are at levels not seen since the first quarter of 2004.

That, in turn, has made it harder for businesses and consumers to borrow.

Elsewhere, the New York-based Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index for November was 44.9, up from a revised 38.8 in October. Last month's reading was the lowest since the research group started tracking the index in 1967.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the November reading to slip to 37.9. Still, this month's figure hovers around levels not seen since December 1974, with Americans' views on the economy the gloomiest in decades as they grapple with massive layoffs, slumping home prices and dwindling retirement funds.

Consumers nationwide are reeling from job losses, tanking investment portfolios and sinking home values. They are expected to hunker down further in the coming months, making it likely the economy will continue to shrink through the rest of this year and into 2009, more than fulfilling a classic definition of a recession: two straight quarters of economic contraction.