Some troubling news: consumer confidence dropped five points in September, suggesting Americans are worried about our financial future. Here’s what that means for you and your Paycheck!
Five Fast Facts on Consumer Confidence:
- 📊 Consumer Confidence? - It’s a survey issued by the Conference Board that measures consumer attitudes about their financial prospects and provides insights into economic conditions, including whether or not consumers might make major purchases.
- 📉What’s the Number? - It fell to 103 in September after sitting at 108 in August. They were expecting a drop to 105.
- 👇 What About Expectations? - Even more surprising was the index that measures future expectations, which is down to 73.7 in September, from 83.3 in August. Anything below 80 historically suggests a recession within a year.
- 🤷 What’s Causing This? - Basically a downturn in spending. We’ve had major retailers like Target, Home Depot, and even Best Buy (they’re still around?) reporting losses due to a drop in purchases of big-ticket items that require financing.
- 😨 Should I Be Worried? - The fear may be unwarranted, though. Confidence has risen and fallen all year long. The economy is nuts, so it makes sense that consumers would be confused by everything as well.
🔥Bottom line: Apparently economists REALLY want a recession, but the US Economy has other ideas. And those ideas seem to be constantly in conflict with one another. The key thing here is not to panic, because we’re in new financial territory post-pandemic.
Do you think a recession is coming?
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