A Dana assembly technician wears a face mask while assembling axles for automakers, as the auto industry begins to reopen amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Dana plant in Toledo, Ohio, May 18, 2020.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
The US economy USA It contracted at a rate of 5.0% in the first quarter with a much worse decline expected in the current three-month economic period due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the decrease in gross domestic product, the total production of goods and services, in the January-March quarter did not change with respect to the estimate made a month ago.
That was the largest quarterly decline since a 8.4% drop in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the financial crisis.
The decrease in the first quarter reflected just two weeks of the closings that began in many parts of the country in mid-March.
Economists forecast a much larger drop in GDP of around 30% for the current period from April to June.
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