OREANDA-NEWS. According to the US Commerce Department, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States contracted 32.9 % in the second quarter of 2020. This is a record.

The decline in GDP in the second quarter reflected the response to COVID-19, as the isolation regime introduced in March and April was partially lifted in some parts of the country, and government payments were sent to households and businesses as pandemic assistance, the message of the US Department of Commerce explains.

According to its estimates, in the first quarter, the US GDP fell by 5 %. Over the same period of last year, it grew by 2.9 %. In April–June of 2019, the country’s GDP increased by 1.5 %.

The US Department of Commerce adds that the figures for the second quarter of 2020 cannot fully reflect the economic consequences of the pandemic. An updated analysis of the economic situation in the United States will be published on August 27.