According to the U.S. Commerce Department, gross domestic product from April to June plunged 32.9% on an annualized basis. It was the worst drop ever since 1947.

By comparison, the worst quarter during the financial crisis of 2008 was the 8.4% GDP drop in the fourth quarter of that year. The previous low-water mark was a 10% slide in the first quarter of 1958.

At the same day, the Labour Department reported that another 1.43 million people filed for state unemployment last week, an increase of 12,000. It was the second week in a row of increased unemployment filings and shows that the economic picture continues to remain grim.

“The decline in second-quarter GDP reflected the response to COVID-19, as ‘stay-at-home’ orders issued in March and April were partially lifted in some areas of the country in May and June,” The BEA said in its statement. “This led to rapid shifts in activity, as businesses and schools continued remote work and consumers and businesses cancelled, restricted, or redirected their spending.”

Consumer spending comprises about two-thirds of the US economy, and prior to the pandemic had been the main engine of economic growth. The second-quarter cliff in economic activity was driven by a drop-off in consumer spending, which appeared as a 34.6% drop in the personal consumption metric in report, or slightly worse than had been expected.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell warned that the most recent surge in infections has begun to weigh on the economy, while reemphasizing that a recovery cannot be sustained unless the virus is under control.