While the election of Donald Trump to a second term in the White House is fantastic news and is certainly worthy of celebration, we also need to remain grounded in reality. And that reality is that for awhile, economic conditions are going to continue sliding into the pit of hell. The policies of President Joe Biden made our economy an absolute mess of chaos and despair. It will take quite sometime to set things right and for us to see and feel relief.
America has been witnessing an economic collapse right before its very eyes, which is terrifying and discouraging. Many economic conditions have continued to dissolve even through November and now December. Here are just a few signs that the collapse of our economy is a littler further along than we originally thought.
When the economy is in good shape, holiday spending increases each year. In 2024, only 16 percent of Americans say that they are going to spend more than last year and 35 percent of Americans say that they are going to spend less…Americans this holiday season say they are seeing a ghost of Christmas past: inflation. The CNBC All-America Economic Survey finds inflation is still haunting the buying public, leading to what’s shaping up to be just an average season for retailers. Just 16% of respondents say they will spend more, down two points compared to last year. Forty-eight percent said that they’ll lay out the same amount for holiday gifts, up five points. At the same time, 35% say they’ll spend less, down two points as well.
Another sign is that the number of job openings in our country is currently at the lowest it’s been since Biden took office in January ’21. And we don’t have a global pandemic to pin the blame on either.
US job openings tumbled last month to their lowest level since January 2021, a sign that the labor market is losing some momentum. Still, posted vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of job openings dropped to 7.4 million in September from 7.9 million in August. Economists had expected the level of openings to be virtually unchanged. Job openings fell in particular at healthcare companies and at government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.
Manufacturing numbers have also taken a nosedive. In fact, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index just took a steep drop.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index, a critical gauge of the general business conditions in Philadelphia, has reported a significant drop. The actual figure stands at -16.4, a sharp decline that suggests worsening conditions for manufacturers in the region. This figure starkly contrasts with the forecasted number of 2.9, highlighting a more severe downturn than initially predicted. Analysts had anticipated a positive shift, indicating improving conditions, but the actual data presents a different, more concerning situation.Moreover, when compared to the previous index value of -5.5, the current reading of -16.4 further emphasizes the severity of the decline. This continuous drop indicates a concerning trend for manufacturers within the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district.
And then there’s the total disaster that is the housing market. Due to rapidly increasing mortgage rates, the average homebuyer in the U.S. lost a whopping $33, 250 in purchasing power over the course of six weeks.
Mortgage rates hit 7% on October 28, the highest level since the start of summer and up nearly one percentage point from the 18-month low they dropped to in mid-September. A homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget can afford a $442,500 home with a 7% mortgage rate, the daily average 30-year fixed rate on October 28. That buyer has lost $33,250 in purchasing power over the last six weeks; they could have purchased a $475,750 home with the 6.11% average rate on September 17. That was the lowest level since February 2023.
And who can forget about how out of control the current cost of living is for Americans? The Bank of America reported that a third of all households in the nation now “spend more than 95 percent of their disposable income on necessities such as housing costs, groceries, and utility bills.”
Tons of businesses are closing up shop too, like Party City and Big Lots. This is a major sign of decline. People aren’t even able to frequent the cheaper retail stores to purchase items due to the skyrocketing cost of living. And now we’re going to be losing even more jobs due to store closings, which will trickle down to manufacturers of various goods. It’s a domino effect.
The discount retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, and has already shut hundreds of stores nationwide. In a press release Thursday, the company said it would begin the sales at its 963 remaining locations, after a sale to a private equity firm fell through.
Trump can’t take office soon enough, folks.
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