Thanks to the Biden administration — thank goodness those days are now behind us — we have a horrific economy, one that was imploded from within and left in rubble. President Donald Trump now has to find ways to rebuild it all and that’s going to take time. At the moment, we’re seeing an all-time high in homelessness and demand at food banks, while poverty continues to expand and swallow more and more American families.
With the poor policies of the previous president the inflation rate soared so high that folks couldn’t afford to pay for basic living expenses or go to the grocery store for a carton of eggs. Business are going belly-up, people are defaulting on home loans, and it doesn’t look like its going to stop any time soon.
This has led many to wonder whether or not we are already in a recession. For millions of Americans it certainly feels like one. Check out these signs that we may already be in an economic recession.
1 — Over half a million businesses ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2024, which is a 14 percent increase from where it was the year before.
Last year in 2024, about 500,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy. That’s 14% more than the year prior.
2 — Data reveals that more than 7,000 stores closed across the country in 2024 and things are only going to get worse as its forecast that 15,000 will close in 2025.
And new data by Coresight predicts 2025 could see yet more closures. It predicts 15,000 stores could close this year, and places particular emphasis on more Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, liquidations, and total overhauls (for those retailers that can afford to stay open and remake their business).
3 — Home sales are abysmally low, dipping below where they sat during the Great Recession. The data shows that home sales haven’t been this low in close to 3 decades.
Existing home sales in the U.S. in 2024 were the lowest in nearly 30 years, as home prices hit an all-time high. The National Association of Realtors released data that showed existing home sales declined to the lowest level since 1995 last year, with 4.06 million homes sold on an annual basis.
4 — And that’s not the only bad news involving homes. Data shows that the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens struggle to pay their regular rent or mortgage.
Nearly 70% of single, divorced or separated people struggle to afford their regular rent or mortgage payments, compared to just over half (52%) of married people, according to a recent Redfin-commissioned survey. More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents who live with their partner but aren’t married struggle with housing payments, making them the group most likely to struggle.
5 — The number of home owners who are considered to be seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments is continuing to rise.
A rising number of homeowners, particularly first-time home buyers and military members and veterans, are missing their monthly payments — and one group says it could be the “canary in the coal mine.” In 2024, the share of serious delinquencies — which refers to mortgage loans that are over 90 days past due but are not in active foreclosure — rose to the highest level in nearly two years, according to a monthly report by Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE.
6 — Mass layoffs are happening all around the nation, and it’s hitting even large corporations. Take Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for example. They have recently decided to drop the hammer on 3,600 employees.
The layoffs, according to Zuckerberg, would target “low-performers.” The layoffs will amount to roughly 3,600 people losing their jobs, according to a Bloomberg report.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” said Zuckerberg in an internal memo cited by Bloomberg. “We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of the year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”
7 — Another big one, Workday, recently revealed they would be laying off 1,700 workers.
Finance and human resources software company Workday is laying off 1,750 employees, essentially cutting down its total workforce by 8.5%. Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach said in a note to employees Wednesday that the mass layoffs were a “difficult, but necessary, decision” as the firm clears resources to help expand its global presence and prioritizes the demand for AI.
So are we already in a recession? Well, maybe not just yet, but we might end up there before things hit and we take a turn for the better. We can only speculate at this point.
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