Coronavirus drags German economy into record recession

More than 1.4 million people filed new claims for unemployment last week, up slightly from the prior week for the second week in a row.

The report "just highlights how deep and dark the hole is that the economy cratered into in Q2", said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, as quoted by CNBC.

The International Monetary Fund has predicted that global growth will fall by 4.9% this year. The single largest quarterly decline since the Commerce Department's records began in 1947 was 10% in early 1958.

Congress is now locked in debate over the size and composition of the next spending bill, with Democrats fighting to retain the $600 of additional weekly benefits for unemployed workers, while Republicans want to cut those payments and offer protection to businesses that reopen even if some employees are infected.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned on Wednesday that the recent resurgence in coronavirus cases seems to be slowing the pace of the recovery of the world's largest economy. A staggering 30.2 million Americans were receiving unemployment checks in the week ending July 11.

Japan, Fiji confirmed to join Six Nations teams in Europe rugby tournament
After playing each other once, the teams would play-off against the corresponding-ranked side in the other pool. Ireland will play Wales and Fiji in the Aviva in a one-off Eight Nations tournament in November.

The US economy suffered its worst blow since the Great Depression in the second quarter as the coronavirus crisis brought the country to a standstill, the feds said Thursday. Thursday's release also confirmed that first-quarter GDP fell by 5 percent, unchanged from the previously published preliminary estimate. Investment is equipment has now contracted for five straight quarters. Spending on nonresidential structures such as mining exploration, shafts and wells plunged at a record 34.9% rate in the second quarter.

The housing market was not spared, with spending on homebuilding tumbling at 38.7% rate. But government spending rose at a 2.7% rate, thanks to the historic stimulus package.

The U.S. Census Bureau said in its latest weekly Household Pulse Survey that 51.1 percent of households experienced a loss of employment income in the week ended July 21, up from 48.3 percent four weeks ago.

The data "should compel Congress to move swiftly to provide targeted and temporary assistance to unemployed Americans, employers, and state and local governments, and liability protections for businesses who follow public health guidelines".