French Spending Plunge Adds to Urgency on Lockdown Easing

(Bloomberg) -- Economic data on what happened during lockdowns are adding to the urgency for governments to ease virus-related restrictions to get back to normal. Figures in France on Friday show consumer spending fell more than 30% in April, the most since the series began in 1980. The damage to businesses and jobs has been clear, with jobless claims spiking to a record last month.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.