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  • Wed. Nov 6th, 2024

Coronavirus update: US economy suffers historic quarterly drop, UK prepares to reintroduce quarantines

Coronavirus update: US economy suffers historic quarterly drop, UK prepares to reintroduce quarantines

The United States economy has suffered its worst quarterly drop, plunging almost 33 per cent and leaving tens of millions unemployed as President Trump questions whether the November 3 election could be delayed.

Meanwhile in Florida the east coast state recorded another day of record deaths and almost 10,000 new infections.

This story will be updated throughout Friday and was last updated at 3: 00am.

Friday’s key moments:

Coronavirus smashes US economy

The US economy has shrunken at a dizzying 32.9 per cent annual rate in the April–June quarter

It is by far the worst quarterly plunge ever, and has thrown tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to 14.7 per cent, the US Government said on Thursday (local time).

The Commerce Department’s estimate of the second-quarter decline in the gross domestic product marked the sharpest such drop, according to records dating back to 1947.

The previous worst quarterly contraction, a 10 per cent drop, occurred in 1958 during the Eisenhower administration.

Last quarter’s drop followed a 5 per cent fall in the January–March quarter, during which the economy officially entered a recession triggered by coronavirus, ending an 11-year-long economic expansion, the longest on record in the United States.

The contraction last quarter was driven by a 34.6 per cent pullback in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 per cent of economic activity.

Business investment and residential housing also suffered sh

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