US Economy Shrinks 32%... New Unemployment Claims Increase for 2 Consecutive Weeks (Comprehensive)

Economic Growth Rate in 2Q Hits Worst in 73 Years Due to COVID-19 Impact... Approaching 1921 Levels
Some Relief as Figures Are Lower Than Expected
New Unemployment Rises Again Amid COVID-19 Resurgence

) On the 20th (local time), a visitor to Liberty Island in New York City, USA, is passing in front of the Statue of Liberty. The U.S. National Park Service reopened Liberty Island on this day, after closing it in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The US economy recorded its worst performance in the second quarter due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was better than market expectations.

The US Department of Commerce announced on the 30th (local time) that the second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was -32.9%. This marks two consecutive quarters of negative growth following -5.0% in the previous quarter. The economic contraction was caused by a simultaneous plunge in personal consumption, exports, and investments and expenditures by state and local governments.

Bloomberg reported that this quarterly growth rate decline was the largest since 1947. CNBC stated that it was similar to the negative growth during the Great Depression in 1921.

Since the second quarter was the peak period of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, the decline in growth rate was expected to be maximized.

However, it was lower than the expert forecast of -34.7% compiled by Dow Jones. CNBC described the figure as somewhat better than feared.

Concerns are expected to continue into the third quarter. Although the US economy showed signs of recovery in May and June, the resurgence of COVID-19 in July has led to the suspension of economic activities in densely populated areas such as California and Texas, making the impact unavoidable. The key issue is how much of the GDP decline can be recovered. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 cases in the US has surpassed 4.42 million, with deaths exceeding 150,000.

On the same day, the Department of Labor announced that new unemployment claims for the week of July 19?25 totaled 1.43 million. This was an increase of 12,000 claims from the previous week, marking two consecutive weeks of increase after 15 weeks of decline. Unemployment claims have been rising again due to the suspension of economic activities in many regions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.