Economic indicators released released this week revealed how severely the coronavirus pandemic is damaging the US economy.<br />Business Insider reports recession in the United States is a foregone conclusion for many economists.<br />Retail sales fell a record 8.7% in March. The last record slump for any month was a 3.8% fall in November, 2008.<br />Total industrial production in fell the most since 1946, by 5.4%. It was led by a drop in auto production, which plunged by 25% in March.<br />Coronavirus-related layoffs erased the 22 million jobs that the US economy added since the post-Great Recession recovery starting in mid-2009.<br />To put a cherry on it, housing starts dropped by 22.3%, and the University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index plunged by 18.1 points, to 71.
