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By Mark Gruenberg
WASHINGTON—The economy tanked in the second quarter of 2020, from April through June, government data shows, as U.S. gross domestic product—the sum total of all goods and services—declined by 32.9% at an annual rate.
And it could have been worse, even the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which released those numbers, says. Federal checks to workers, both the $1,200 check when the crash began, and $600 weekly jobless aid on top of state unemployment benefits, propped the economy up, BEA said.
The even worse case scenario is likely to materialize in the weeks ahead if the Heroes Act which Trump and the Republicans are blocking, does not become law.
For historical comparison on how bad things are, BEA’s statistics add that in the worst year of the Great Depression, 1932, the economy shrank by 12.9%.
The day before BEA’s release, the AFL-CIO used the gloomy outlook to once again lobby for the House-passed Heroes Act (HR6800). It would extend the federal $600 weekly jobless aid checks, now sent to at least 30 million unemployed workers through January 31. They’re scheduled to end July 31....
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