U.S. consumer spending sinks by record 13.6% in face of virus

U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6 percent in April as the pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs, and sent the economy into a deep recession.

Last month's spending decline was far worse than the revised 6.9-percent drop in March, which itself had set a record for the steepest one-month fall in records dating to 1959. 

Friday's Commerce Department figures reinforced evidence that the economy is in the grips of the worst downturn in decades, with consumers unable or anxious about spending. 

(With input from AP)