The largest decline in world's largest US economy so far, a record 31.7% fall in the first quarter of FY 2020-21

 

The US economy has recorded the largest decline in recorded history due to the coronavirus epidemic. The US Commerce Ministry, in its second estimate for the April-June quarter released on Thursday, said the economy had plummeted 31.7 per cent. In the first estimate, the government said in late July that the US economy had fallen by 32.9 per cent in the June quarter.

 

The biggest quarterly decline in US economy records was in 1958. At that time the economy had fallen by 10 per cent. America has started keeping a record of GDP growth since 1947. Lockdown in the April-June quarter disrupted business activities in the world's largest economy and left millions of workers unemployed. In the first quarter of this year, the US economy declined by 5 per cent. The case of COVID-19 infection started in the US since February. According to economists, economic recovery is not expected to happen soon, as the pace of virus infection has not stopped but financial relief from the government has come to a halt.

 

Every week in the US, about 1 million people are applying for jobless benefits, while the aid to the unemployed has decreased. Consumer confidence has declined. There has been a jump in the stock market and the sale of houses. The economy is showing signs of stagnation and millions of people are in danger of being evicted from rented houses.