White House punts economic update as election draws near

ANDREW TAYLOR, JOSH BOAK and AAMER MADHANI

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House took the unusual step on Thursday of deciding not to release an updated economic forecast as planned this year, a fresh sign of the administration's anxiety about how the coronavirus has ravaged the nation just months before the election.

The decision, which was confirmed by a senior administration official who was not authorized to publicly comment on the plan, came amid intensifying signals of the pandemic's grim economic toll.

The U.S. economy shrank at a faster-than-expected annual rate of 5% duri...