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US Economy Plunges 4.8% in 1st Quarter

Ken Bredemeier

   The U.S. economy plunged at an annual rate of 4.8% in the first quarter
   as the coronavirus pandemic shut wide swaths of American industry and
   white-collar businesses in the country's biggest downturn in more than
   a decade, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

   The impact was so pronounced that the decline for the January-to-March
   period occurred entirely in the last three weeks of March as the effect
   of the pandemic swept through the world's biggest economy. It forced
   the closure of major factories with thousands of workers, office
   complexes and mom-and-pop retail stores in cities large and small.

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