The course of the pandemic that is coronavirus is still unpredictable and the forecasters have been using their models for the making a few guesses about exactly how bad the damage is going to be. The forecasts can be summed in one word, threatening.
The experts have expected that the economy is going to shrink at a level of 12% while there have been some like Goldman Sachs who have predicted that the economy between April and June is going to go down by a mammoth 24%.
In comparison, the worst quarter of the 2008 recession had been the last quarter of 2008 where the economy had shrank by a level of 8.4% in one quarter. The records are only there till 1940s so they do not cover the Great Depression.
The first signal had come this Thursday when the department had reported for the first time a sharp jump in the claims for the employment benefits. This is looking miniscule to what is being expected for the coming week when the complete effect of the orders is going to be witnessed by the Americans all over the country as the lockdowns are imposed and data is going to show.
As the retailers, restaurants and the other places where people gather begin to close their doors or shift their operations, there may be a surge in the unemployment which may be growing by a level of 2 million in one week. The margin of error though at this moment is very uncertain and the number may well be a lot higher as per the experts. The annual rate in the coming months is going to be 10% which has been seen as optimistic.
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