New orders for US manufactured goods plunged 17.2 percent in April as measures to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic resulted in shutting down factories across the United States, updated data from the Commerce Department revealed on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2020) New orders for US manufactured goods plunged 17.2 percent in April as measures to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic resulted in shutting down factories across the United States, updated data from the Commerce Department revealed on Thursday.
The latest decline followed a 16.6 per cent drop in manufactured goods' orders in March, taking total sales down to $170 billion from the $246 billion recorded in February before the pandemic.
Earlier on Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the US economy shrank by 5 percent in the first quarter, revising upward the initial 4.8 percent estimate due to the coronavirus lockdowns.
The Labor Department, meanwhile, reported on Thursday that 2.1 million more Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance last week, bringing to around 41 million the number of people who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
