Coronavirus severely damages US, German economies

Retail sales in the United States dropped by 16.4 percent in April, government data shows.

This is the biggest drop since the beginning of the census in 1992. It has almost doubled compared to the March fall of 8.3%.

The situation is due to the close of many businesses, due to the coronary pandemic. Many companies applied for protection from bankruptcy.

Other retailers are expected to take similar steps. The data comes at an unprecedented level of job losses in the United States.

Some 36.5 million Americans have registered as unemployed over the past eight weeks.

On Friday, Germany also reportedly has plunged into recession since its largest quarterly contraction since the 2008 financial crisis.

Official data there showed the economy has contracted for 2.2. percent in the first three months of 2020.

Germany too has closed shops and businesses as a measure of curbing the spread of the coronary.