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U.S. retail sales suffered the biggest drop in history in March, plummeting by 8.7 percent as the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses around the country to close and shoppers were directed to stay at home.

It was the steepest decline since the government began tracking retail sales in 1992. February's report was revised to a 0.4 percent decline.

The bleak Commerce Department report on Wednesday revealed that while grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses deemed essential experienced a spike in demand last month as Americans stocked up on things like toilet paper and medicine, it was dampened by sharp declines in other areas like clothing (which fell by 50.7 percent compared to last year) as cities and states throughout the country imposed strict stay-at-home measures.

According to economists surveyed by Refinitiv, retail sales were expected to have fallen 8.0 percent last month.