Seattle Times carring an AP item:
A report on Friday showed all types of U.S. consumers are getting more pessimistic about their future finances. Two out of three expect unemployment to worsen in the year ahead, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. That’s the highest reading since 2009, and it raises worries about a job market that’s been a linchpin keeping the U.S. economy solid.
A separate report also raised concerns after it showed a widely followed, underlying measure of inflation was a touch worse last month than economists expected. It followed reports on other measures of inflation for February, but this is the one the Federal Reserve pays the most attention to as it decides what to do with interest rates.
The report also showed that an underlying measure of how much income Americans are making, which excludes government social benefits and some other items, “has been treading water for the last three months,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
“Households aren’t in a good place to absorb a little tariff pain,” he said. “The Fed isn’t likely to run to the rescue either as inflation moved up more than expected in February.”
These are not political shots being fired. This is consumer confidence hitting the toilet. People do not have trust in Trumponomics. It is that simple. Different policy, different results seems a clear way out. Crabgrass hopes for things getting better.