by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Do you remember how bad things were in 2008 and 2009? It was an economic nightmare that shook the entire world, and now it appears that the sequel is upon us. As you will see below, many economic numbers are either as bad as they have been since the Great Recession or they are even worse than they were during the Great Recession. Despite what the mainstream media has been telling you, the truth is that the cold, hard facts prove that the U.S. economy has been rapidly heading in the wrong direction for years. Now we have reached a major tipping point, and it won’t take much to push us over the edge.
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If you doubt what I am saying, just keep reading. The following are 11 signs that the U.S. economy is in the worst shape that it has been since the Great Recession…
#1 U.S. consumer sentiment just continues to move in the wrong direction. In fact, U.S. consumer sentiment just fell to the second lowest reading ever…
Worries over the government shutdown surged in the early part of November, pushing consumer sentiment to its lowest in more than three years and just off its worst level ever, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.
The university’s monthly Index of Consumer Sentiment posted a reading of 50.3 for the month, indicating a decline of 6.2% on the month and about 30% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 53.0 after October’s 53.6. Sentiment was last this low in June 2022 as inflation hovered around its highest level in 40 years. November’s reading was the second lowest going back to at least 1978.
#2 For years, U.S. consumers have been foolishly piling up enormous mountains of debt. Now the average U.S. credit score is falling at the fastest pace that we have seen since the Great Recession…
In another indication of a puttering economy, the average credit score in the U.S. has fallen by two points since this time last year.
The credit scoring firm FICO said Tuesday that the average credit score for all U.S. consumers is now 715, down from 717 logged in October 2024. According to separately released FICO data, the decline marks the first time since 2009 during the Great Recession that the average FICO score has fallen by two points within one year.
#3 The employment market has really tightened up all over the nation. If you are looking for a temporary job this holiday season, it is being projected that holiday hiring with be at the lowest level that we have seen since the Great Recession…
Holiday hiring by retailers is expected to total between 265,000 and 365,000 roles this year, the lowest number of seasonal workers in at least 15 years, the National Retail Federation said Thursday.
NRF CEO Matthew Shay said on the retail trade group’s conference call on that those hiring expectations “reflect the softening and slowing labor market.” It’s a significant drop from a year ago, when retailers hired 442,000 seasonal workers, the retail trade group said.
#4 As hiring has gotten tighter, layoffs are way up. In fact, we just witnessed the most layoffs in a single month during the fourth quarter since 2008…
The report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, showed 153,074 job cuts announced in October, an increase of 183% from cuts announced in September and up 175% from the same month in 2024.
“This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008,” Challenger said in a release. That year was a pivotal moment in the Great Recession, in which thousands of jobs were lost around the world and the global economy faced a period of contraction.
#5 The American people are not stupid. They can see what is going on, and they are now the most pessimistic about finding a job that they have been “since at least 2013”…
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