U.S. Economy Contracted at Record Rate Last Quarter; Jobless Claims Rise to 1.43 Million

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9. Economy suffers titanic 32.9% plunge in 2nd quarter, GDP shows, and points to drawn-out recovery

The numbers: An economy badly battered by the coronavirus shrank at a record 32.9% annual pace in the second quarter, underscoring just how big a hole the U.S. finds itself in as it labors to recover from the deepest recession in American history.

The tidal wave of damage from the first global pandemic in a century was almost as bad as Wall Street expected. Analysts polled by MarketWatch had forecast a whopping 35% decline in gross domestic product, the official scorecard of the U.S. economy.

The economy began to recover in mid-May after a severe contraction at the beginning of the quarter, but the U.S. faces a long road back, analysts say. Millions of Americans are still out of work, thousands of businesses have closed and many of those that remain open have had to scale back operations because of tepid demand or ongoing government restrictions.

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Previously GDP had never shrunk by more than 10% in any quarter since the government began keeping track shortly after World War Two.

More at ...

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/economy-suffers-titanic-329-plunge-in-2nd-quarter-gdp-shows-and-points-to-drawn-out-recovery-2020-07-30?mod=article_inline

It’s going to be difficult to hide that hole in the economic foundation