A 33 Percent Drop in U.S. GDP and the Ominous Signs for Travel’s Recovery


Skift Take

The U.S. economy showed a record rate of contraction in the second quarter, and a closer look revealed some troubling signs for travel.

U.S. gross domestic product decreased at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, its worst drop on record. It’s the latest sign of the damage that the coronavirus has had on the country’s economy. A deeper look at the report shows how far the travel industry might be from recovering. The majority of the decrease in GDP was from the decline in personal consumption expenditures, a measure of consumer spending. Much of the decrease in this spending was from a decline in the services sector where the food services and acco