CNBC: “The U.S. economy saw the biggest plunge in activity it has ever known in the second quarter, though it wasn’t quite as bad as feared.”
“Gross domestic product from April to June plunged 32.9%, according to the Commerce Department’s first reading on the data released Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a drop of 34.7%. Not the Great Depression nor the Great Recession nor any of the more than three dozen economic slumps over the past two centuries have ever caused such a sharp drain over so short a period of time. By comparison, the worst quarter during the financial crisis of 2008 was the 8.4% GDP drop in the fourth quarter of that year. The previous low-water mark was a 10% slide in the first quarter of 1958.”