U.S GDP falls by 9.5 per cent in second quarter
Canadian Plastics
Economy COVID-19The drop is the largest quarterly drop in recorded history.
The U.S. economy suffered its largest contraction on record in the second quarter of 2020, the United States Commerce Department announced on July 30.
According to the Commerce Department, gross domestic product (GDP) fell 9.5 per cent from April through June – the largest quarterly drop in recorded history. The economy contracted by an annual rate of 32.9 per cent, slightly less than many economists had predicted. The second largest drop in GDP was in 1921.
The GDP report serves as a snapshot in time of the damage inflicted in the U.S by the COVID-19 pandemic: statewide lockdown orders, millions of jobs lost, tens of thousands of shuttered businesses, and a record halt in business and manufacturing activity.
The figures also come as cases of COVID-19 are increasing in some southern and western states that reopened their economies several weeks ago, causing governors in Texas, Florida, and California to reimpose some social distancing restrictions.
