U.S. GDP Falls 33 Percent, The Worst Ever Recorded

WASHINGTON D.C. — (07-30-20) — The United States GDP fell 32.9 percent in Q2 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the worst drop ever recorded in American history., according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 5.0 percent,” declared the BEA, noting, that the Q2 “estimate” is “based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency.”

“The ‘second’ estimate for the second quarter, based on more complete data, will be released by The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), on August 27, 2020,”.

The BEA explained that the “decline in second quarter GDP reflected the response to COVID-19, as ‘stay-at-home’ orders issued in March and April were partially lifted in some areas of the country in May and June, and government pandemic assistance payments were distributed to households and businesses.”

“This led to rapid shifts in activity, as businesses and schools continued remote work and consumers and businesses canceled, restricted, or redirected their spending,” it declared, adding, “The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the second quarter of 2020 because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.”

CNN Business reported on Thursday that the GDP Q2 drop “was nearly four times worse than during the peak of the financial crisis, when the economy contracted 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2008,” though noted that the United States “only began keeping quarterly GDP records in 1947, so it’s difficult to compare the current downturn to the Great Depression.”

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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