Fed chair warns of ‘heartbreaking’ scenario as U.S. economy suffers worst first quarter since Great Recession

Mod: If President Chewable Clorox had not spent his many idle hours golfing instead of fighting COVID-19 back in January, we wouldn't be facing a 2nd Great American Depression today. The other shoe is falling, and fast.

Fed chair warns of ‘heartbreaking’ scenario as U.S. economy suffers worst first quarter since Great Recession - While the economy contracted at a 4.8% rate in the quarter, the second quarter is likely to show a decline of 30% — or more (The Washington Postlink): The U.S. economy suffered its sharpest decline since the Great Recession— a 4.8 percent drop — from January through March, and the head of the Federal Reserve warned the second quarter would be even uglier as many Americans continued to stay home to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“We are going to see economic data for the second quarter that’s worse than any data we’ve seen for the economy,” Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said in a video news conference. He called it “heartbreaking” to witness millions of job losses, especially in minority communities.

There is widespread agreement that the U.S. economy is in the midst of its worst crisis since the Great Depression, and Commerce Department data released Wednesday revealed just how severe it is becoming. Consumer and business spending nosedived in the first quarter, even with the economy shuttered for only half of March. Household spending tumbled 7.6 percent, and business investment sank 8.6 percent. Although Americans flooded grocery stores to buy food and supplies, it was not nearly enough to offset lost spending on dining out, car sales, entertainment and other purchases.

Mod: If we have turned the corner on the pandemic as Jared Kushner claims, why are the Feds buying so many body bags?

U.S. Buys 100,000 More Body Bags, Preparing for Coronavirus Worst (Wall Street Journallink): The federal government ordered 100,000 new Covid-19 body bags, in what officials described as preparations for a “worst case” scenario. The giant order last week for “human remains pouches” comes as more than 58,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The order for 100,000 body bags, costing $5.1 million, was placed April 21 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, federal contracting databases show. The supplier, a small California company, is supposed to deliver the bags by May 4, according to the contracting data.

A FEMA spokeswoman said the agency has been focused on a “worst possible case national scenario” from the start of the response effort. “In order to meet the worst-case demand models, FEMA initiated a broad range of acquisition contracts to augment available stocks and produce more human-remains pouches for future requirements should they be needed,” she said.

The Defense Department earlier this month said that FEMA asked it to provide 100,000 body bags for civilian use, Bloomberg News reported. The latest purchase is separate from that request.

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