As economies stagger, pressures grow to ease virus lockdowns

The world’s economic pain was on full display Thursday as Europe and the United States were releasing more figures showing just how devastating the impact has been from lockdown measures designed to battle the coronavirus pandemic. In Europe, the fear of renewed infection spikes that could again overwhelm hospital emergency wards is tempering hopes that economies on life-support will regain their vigor as locked down workers return to factories, shops and offices. The cost of lockdowns that saved lives is being measured in increasingly grim economic statistics that are driving pressure to restart production lines and reopen schools. France’s economy shrank by an eye-popping 5.8% in the first quarter, the biggest quarterly drop since 1949.