WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing output suffered a record drop in April as the novel coronavirus pandemic fractured supply chains and depressed demand, supporting economists’ views the economy will shrink in the second quarter at a pace not seen since the Great Depression.
The Federal Reserve said on Friday manufacturing production plunged 13.7%, the biggest drop in the series’ history. Data for March was revised to show output at factories dropping 5.5% instead of decreasing 6.3% as previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast manufacturing output tumbling 13.0% in April. Overall industrial production fell 11.2% in April, the largest drop in the series’ 101-year history, after declining 4.5% in March.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
