Global economy is already in recession -economist poll

The global economy is already in recession due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to economists polled by Reuters, separately Goldman Sachs sees U.S. GDP plunging 24 percent in the second quarter.

Conway G.

Gittens has more on the gloomy outlook.

The coronavirus pandemic has already dragged the global economy into a recession.

That's the takeaway from a Reuters poll of economists conducted this week.

More than three-quarters of the economists polled, all who are based in the Americas and Europe, said the global economic expansion is over.

And many are expecting things to get much worse before they get better.

Goldman Sachs predicted Friday U.S. GDP will plunge a stunning 24 percent in the second quarter, before rebounding by year's end.

Goldman also sees the unemployment rate hitting 9 percent as cities shut down, grinding business to a halt, putting a massive number of Americans out of work.

More than 1.5 million applications for first-time unemployment benefits were likely filed this week alone, according to economists estimates.

Goldman Sachs expects it to be the biggest one-week filing ever recorded.

In some instances, Reuters has learned, state systems, which oversee the jobless benefits program, were unprepared and overwhelmed, resulting in website shutdowns, long wait times on the phone and growing frustration among the newly unemployed.

Washington is trying to move quickly to soften the blow.

The White House and Congress are working on an economic stimulus package now topping $1 trillion….

The Treasury moved the tax deadline to July 15th.

And the Federal Reserve is throwing trillions of dollars at financial markets to prevent lending from drying up.

The latest move came Friday when the Fed announced it is shoring up support for the key municipal bond market, which provides funding for cities, states, and government authorities like transit systems. But economists are not yet convinced that these measures, along with coordinated efforts by governments the world over, will be able to prevent a deep global recession and dark days for all those put out of work.