US Economy Contracts By 32.9% As 1.4 Million New Unemployment Claims Filed

So. Much. Winning. Remember when Donald Trump predicted ‘only’ 60,000 deaths from COVID-19 and the economy would come roaring back in the summer when the virus magically disappeared? From CNN:

The US economy contracted at a 32.9% annual rate from April through June, its worst drop on record, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday.

Business ground to a halt during the pandemic lockdown in the spring of this year and America plunged into its first recession in 11 years, putting an end to the longest economic expansion in US history and wiping out five years of economic gains in just a few months.

A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of declining gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy. Between January and March, GDP declined by an annualized rate of 5%.