by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
The Biden administration has given us an economy in which homelessness is at an all-time high, demand at food banks is at an all-time high, and poverty is growing all around us. The rising cost of living is absolutely crushing households throughout the nation, and now delinquencies are rising, businesses are going bankrupt at a staggering pace, and mass layoffs are happening from coast to coast. We won’t officially know whether we are in a “recession” at this moment or not until months from now, but I guarantee you that it certainly feels like a “recession” to millions upon millions of us. Our economic momentum has been rapidly taking us in the wrong direction for a long time, and the level of economic pain that we are witnessing right now is truly frightening. The following are 11 signs that a recession in the U.S. may have already started…
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#1 Approximately half a million businesses filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2024. That represented a 14 percent increase compared to the previous year…
Last year in 2024, about 500,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy. That’s 14% more than the year prior.
#2 More than 7,000 stores closed in the U.S. in 2024, and it is being projected that 15,000 stores will close in the U.S. 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 even lower than they were during the Great Recession. In fact, sales of existing homes haven’t been this low in almost 30 years…
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 A majority of the U.S. population struggles to afford “their regular rent or mortgage payments”…
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 proportion of U.S. homeowners that are seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments is rising…
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 occurring all over the country. For example, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram has decided to give the axe to approximately 3,600 workers…
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 Workday has announced that over 1,700 of their employees will be hitting the bricks…
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.
#8 One expert that was interviewed by CNN is warning that the employment picture is deteriorating because “you’ve already got companies hiring as if they’re in a recession”…
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