9 percent dive, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The contraction in terms of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, which followed a 5.0 percent drop in the preceding quarter, still represents the steepest quarterly decline since comparable data became available in 1947. According to the department, private consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of the world's largest economy, dropped 34.1 percent in the second quarter, revised slightly upward from a fall of 34.6 percent. The figure followed a 6.9 percent decline in the January-March period.
Nonresidential private investment, a measure of business spending, dropped 26.0 percent after a decline of 6.7 percent. Exports dived 63.2 percent after dropping 9.5 percent in the preceding quarter. Imports tumbled 54.0 percent in the second quarter against a 15.0 percent drop in the first quarter.