US economy to contract at sharpest pace since Great Recession – Reuters poll

The latest Reuters survey of economists showed that the US is likely to contract in the first quarter of 2020, sharpest pace since the Great Recession, due to the coronavirus outbreak let strict shut down restrictions.

Key findings

“Gross domestic product probably decreased at a 4.0% annualized rate last quarter, weighed down by sharp declines in consumer spending and a drawdown of inventory at businesses.

That would the steepest pace of contraction in GDP since the first quarter of 2009. 

 The anticipated decline in gross domestic product (GDP) will reflect a plunge in economic activity in the last two weeks of March, which saw millions of Americans seeking unemployment benefits. 

Estimates in the survey were as low as a 15% drop in GDP, which would be the steepest decline on record.”