코로나19에 美 1분기 성장률 -5%…12년 만의 최대폭 하락<br /><br />The U.S. economy shrank five percent in the first quarter of this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<br />This is the worst the American economy has performed since the 2008 global financial crisis.<br />As our Yoon Jung-min reports... economists expect the data will be worse for the second quarter... but a rebound to follow after that.<br />The U.S economy in the first quarter saw its largest contraction in more than a decade due to the impact of COVID-19.<br />In its latest estimate, the Commerce Department said Thursday that the U.S. economy shrank by 5 percent from January to March.<br />It was the sharpest quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 2008 when the economy shrank more than 8 percent amid the global financial crisis.<br />The department said the decline reflected the response to the coronavirus, as governments issued "stay-at-home" orders in March.<br />And worse is yet to come. Economists predict that GDP will plunge around a staggering 30 percent from April to June.<br />Forecasters, however, believe the economy will rebound in the second half of the year.<br />The COVID-19 situation in the U.S. has taken a turn for the worse,... particularly in the southern states, including Texas, Florida and California.<br />The governor of Texas announced on Thursday that the state will put on hold any further plans to reopen due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.<br />"Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we're now seeing increased tests that are coming back positive. That then drives what we're seeing in the numbers."<br />According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been over 2-point-4 million coronavirus cases reported in the U.S. so far.<br />If a second-wave of infections materializes in July, economists say it will cause seismic losses for the entire year.<br />Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.<br />
