By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – The prospect of a U.S. recession could mean more pain for battered stocks, despite a recent rebound that has taken the benchmark index to its highest level in more than a month. Data on Thursday showed the U.S. economy contracted for the second straight quarter – fulfilling an often-cited definition of a recession. Robust job growth accompanying the current slowdown has sparked debate on whether the economy is actually in a recession this time around, and the official arbiter of recessions – the National Bureau of Economic Research – has not yet declared…