Record Economic Plunge, Bleak Job Numbers Reveal Virus Toll

WASHINGTON (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy plunging by a record-shattering 32.9% annual rate last quarter.

It is still inflicting damage across the country, squeezing already struggling businesses and forcing a wave of layoffs that shows no sign of abating.

The economy’s collapse in the April-June quarter was stunning in its speed and depth.

The government’s estimate of the second-quarter fall in the gross domestic product has no comparison since records began in 1947.

So steep was the economic fall that most analysts expect a sharp rebound for the current July-September period.

But with coronavirus cases rising in the majority of states and the Republican Senate proposing to scale back aid to the unemployed, the pain could worsen