by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Have you noticed it too? There has been a dramatic shift in the economy in recent days. It has been sudden and it has been severe. All over the country, sales are falling like a rock, inventories are piling up to alarming levels, and large companies are beginning to conduct mass layoffs. Perhaps it was inevitable that such a downturn would arrive, but the Federal Reserve has made things far worse by rapidly hiking interest rates. Every other time the Fed has engaged in such a rate hiking binge it has resulted in a recession, and there is no way that we are going to escape unscathed this time around. The following are 11 signs that economic activity is plunging off a cliff…
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#1 This year, only 74 percent of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving because so many people are skipping the holiday in order to save money…
In 2021, researchers note that an IPSOS survey found that nine in 10 Americans planned to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year, the new poll of 1,000 people found that number has fallen to just 74 percent. In fact, 47 percent say they’re celebrating “Friendsgiving” because of its more budget-friendly menu. Specifically, just 24 percent of Friendsgiving celebrations will even have a turkey on the table, with 33 percent opting for a pizza instead!
#2 Used vehicle prices have just plunged at the fastest pace that we have seen since 2008.
#3 A Dollar General assistant manager named Travis Bennett recently posted a video on TikTok that showed unsold inventory at his store literally piling up to the roof…
In a video with over 380,000 views addressed to “anyone inside this company that actually cares,” TikTok user Travis Bennett shows the conditions of his Dollar General. This includes boxes filling the aisles and numerous crates that have not been unpacked. Bennett says this is typical for “most Dollar General stores across the country.”
#4 Consumer confidence in the housing market just hit an all-time record low.
#5 All over America, companies are seeing depressingly low sales numbers. In fact, it is being reported that the Net Rising Index “is getting close to a level which corresponds to several past recessions”…
A closely watched survey from the National Association for Business Economics has shown a decline in sales for companies that hasn’t been this sharp since the mid-2020 Covid crash and is getting close to a level which corresponds to several past recessions. The Net Rising Index (NRI) for sales — the percentage of survey respondents reporting rising sales minus the percentage reporting falling sales — peaked at 74% of firms in April 2021. As of October, it’s down to 36%.
#6 CNN is reporting that Facebook could start laying off thousands of workers “as early as this week”.
#7 Other large tech companies are also conducting mass layoffs, and many believe that what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg.
#8 Credit card debt growth has fallen to the lowest level in 4 months.
#9 20 million U.S. households are behind on paying their power bills.
#10 37 percent of all small business owners were not able to pay their rent on time during the month of October.
#11 A poll that was just released found that a whopping 73 percent of Americans will be “thinking a lot about the economy” when they vote.
The fact that voters are so focused on the economy right now appears to be really bad news for Democrats.
The guy in the White House always gets most of the credit or most of the blame for how the economy is performing, and right now Joe Biden’s approval rating is downright dismal…
Voters’ approval of President Joe Biden remains deep in negative territory and 70 percent of voters say the country is on the wrong track — both results that bode ill for Democrats as Election Day approaches.
Fifty-five percent of registered voters said they disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, and just 42 percent said they approve in the last POLITICO-Morning Consult poll conducted in advance of Tuesday’s election.
Of course Joe Biden is still going to be in the White House no matter what happens during the midterm elections.
In fact, either he or Kamala Harris will be residing there until at least January 2025.
So there won’t be any major policy changes for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, economic conditions are just going to continue to deteriorate.
As this new downturn accelerates, a lot of Americans are going to lose their jobs.
In fact, Bank of America is projecting that job losses in this country will soon hit 175,000 a month…
As pressure from the Fed’s war on inflation builds, nonfarm payrolls will begin shrinking early next year, translating to a loss of about 175,000 jobs a month during the first quarter, the bank said. Charts published by Bank of America suggest job losses will continue through much of 2023.
“The premise is a harder landing rather than a softer one,” Michael Gapen, head of US economics at Bank of America, told CNN in a phone interview Monday.
Sadly, that is a wildly optimistic projection.
During times like these, you will want to be carrying as little debt as possible, and you will want to have a sizable emergency fund so that you can continue paying the bills if something happens.
In 2008 and 2009, millions of Americans ended up losing their homes because they couldn’t continue paying the bills once they lost their jobs.
Don’t let that happen to you.
The times that we are moving into won’t be pleasant. Eventually, they will be far worse than anything that we experienced in 2008 and 2009.
But that doesn’t mean that we have to be depressed about what is coming.
When I was growing up, I was often told that “when times get tough, the tough get going”.
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