US economy shrinks 33% Q2

[Webb7 438]

 

The US economy contracted by 32.9% 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.

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%.
 

In April, more than 20 million American jobs vanished as businesses closed and most of the country was under stay-at-home orders. It was the biggest drop in jobs since record-keeping began more than 80 years ago. Claims for unemployment benefits skyrocketed and have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

While the labor market has been rebounding since states began to reopen, bringing millions back to work, the country is still down nearly 15 million jobs since February. Next week's July jobs report is expected to show another 2.3 million jobs added. That would bring the unemployment rate down to 10.3% — still higher than during the worst period of the financial crisis.

Consumer spending, the biggest driver of the US economy, declined at an annual rate of 34.6% — by far the sharpest decline on record.

The worst quarter ever

The pandemic pushed the economy off a cliff. The second-quarter GDP 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.

Quarterly GDP numbers are expressed as an annualized rate. This means that the economy didn't actually contract by a third from the first quarter to the second. The annualized rate measures how much the economy would grow or shrink if conditions were to persist for 12 months. 

Not annualized, GDP declined by 9.5% in between April and June, or by $1.8 trillion.

But by either measure, it was still the worst quarter on record.

The US only began keeping quarterly GDP records in 1947, so it's difficult to compare the current downturn to the Great Depression. That said, in 1932 the US economy contracted 12.9%.

Earlier quarterly declines also pale in comparison to this year.

Between April and June of 1980, the economy contracted 8% on the heels of rising oil prices and restrictive monetary policy to control inflation.

In the first three months of 1958, GDP declined by 10%, as production slowed and high interest rates put an end to the post-World War II expansion. The downturn followed the Asian flu pandemic of the previous year, which killed 116,000 people in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control.

 

 

[Lorde Von Kok 4]

[Webb7 438]

    Trump recession.  

millions of people suffering while billionaires make more money... A broken economical system 

 

Singapore & South Korea are also entering recession. This pandemic ****s everyone up 

[Morphine Prince 109,653]

 

 

[Mister G 10,512]

3 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

 

 

Reason #7,260 why Trump wants the election delayed. Also reason #7,260 to vote his ass out of office. Maybe if he handled things a little better, we wouldn’t see this nasty decrease.

[berlinforme 5,385]

The businessman, the negotiator, the maker of deals 

[Webb7 438]

millions of people suffering while billionaires make more money

a broken economical system 

 

[Guest]

I think it's like this for every country bcs of corona

[PoetsTryinWrite 1,262]

Trauma keeps the economy going. Problem is, consumers can’t access the items they need to perpetuate this trauma. It’s actually a good sign when it comes to mental health. Let the sh*t collapse and build better next time. 

[PoetsTryinWrite 1,262]

Trauma keeps the economy going. Problem is, consumers can’t access the items they need to perpetuate this trauma. It’s actually a good sign when it comes to mental health. Let the sh*t collapse and build better next time. 

[xKorix 156]

This is why every other country worth living in has strong safety nets, unemployment benefits, and universal healthcare because they'll be able to weather unexpected or difficult times. Responsible leaders plan for the worst. It also makes better financial sense and is better for the economy. When people go bankrupt due to medical bills, lose their homes or die, they don't contribute anymore. They're not paying taxes or buying anything which is what the economy is dependent on and if they don't have the support to recover they'll never contribute again. The average person who lives a healthy normal life can contribute up to 10 million to the economy. If they get sick, die or fall into poverty that number is drastically cut. With the death toll from Covid that's billions gone from the economy forever. The US has it wrong, the average person who owns a home or rents, buys a car, or shops keeps this country running without them buying and spending, towns will die. Walmart, Amazon are meaningless without customers and they would collapse. The idea of protecting the owners of these businesses at all cost even giving them our tax dollars while they pay none, and cutting our benefits and salaries more and more, while this is the result.

This isn't about being a bleeding heart or enabling moochers, it literally makes good economic and financial sense.

[Mister G 10,512]

We have a thread on this that was posted earlier this morning. @Admin can they be merged if that’s alright?