Jeff Cox@JEFF.COX.7528@JEFFCOXCNBCCOM
A government report Friday showed consumer spending dropped a record 16.4% in the month of April as the backbone of the U.S. economy retrenched amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government report Friday.
Dow Jones economists expected the advanced retail sales number to fall 12.3%.
The March numbers were revised to be not as bad as the 8.7% initially reported.
America's $21.5 trillion economy is supported by 68% of the nation’s personal consumption expenditures, which tumbled 7.6% in the first quarter just as social distancing measures aimed at containing the coronavirus began to take effect.
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