Warren Buffett tells CNBC that by his own "common sense" definition, the United States is "still in a recession."

In a taped interview with Becky Quick airing this morning on CNBC's Squawk Box , Buffett says, "I think we're in a recession until real per capita GDP gets back to where it was before."

While Buffett continues to believe the U.S. will eventually emerge from its economic downturn, "We're not gonna be out of it for awhile."

Buffett was responding to a question from question about the National Bureau of Economic Research's determination earlier this weekthat the recession 'officially' ended in June, 2009.

Here's the entire clip as it aired on the 6a ET hour of Squawk Box. Becky started by asking Buffett if small businesses are having trouble getting loans:

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