Retail sales in April amid the coronavirus pandemic took a massive, record dive.
A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed retail sales plummeted 16.4 percent in April, more than the 12.3 percent decline economists were expecting and significantly worse than March's 8.3 percent drop, according to CNBC.
This is the steepest decline in retail sales on record since the data started being tracked in 1992, with the previous record being March's drop. Clothing stores, electronics stores, furniture stores, and restaurants were hit especially hard in April, according to The Associated Press, although online sales were up 8.4 percent.
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This comes after data from the Labor Department released on Thursday showed more than 36 million Americans have filed initial unemployment claims over the course of eight weeks during the crisis, and economists at Goldman Sachs have projected the U.S. unemployment rate, which in April rose to 14.7 percent, will ultimately peak at 25 percent, on par with the Great Depression.
As stay-at-home restrictions now begin to ease around the country, The New York Times reports experts are anticipating that spending will rise in May, although the Times notes that "any rebound is likely to be gradual."
