Import duties, mass shootings by federal workers are part of the issues that have hit the consumer’s mind.
U.S. consumer trust deteriorated at the most sharp pace in February 3-1/2, with 12 months of inflation expectations surged, and Americans’ policies in the economy It provided further indication that they are worried about negative effects.
“Comments on the current administration and its policies dominate the responses,” he said in a conference committee investigation on Tuesday.
Following just after last week’s survey, business and consumer sentiment fell sharply in February. The import duties Trump has already imposed or planned, have been chosen as a major issue in almost every home and business investigation.
Economists said the unprecedented layoffs of federal workers are also taking a blow to the consumer spirit, but they said it poses risks to spending, the main engine of the economy.
“Americans are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the outlook. Christopher Lapkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, said: “The economy will be in the first quarter of the year, as consumers are at home. was able to stop.”
The conference committee’s consumer confidence index fell 7 points, marking the biggest drop since August 2021 to 98.3 this month. The economists voted by Reuters predicted that the index would decrease, but it was only 102.5. A monthly decline in the third straight has pushed the index to its lowest level since June 2024. It is currently at the bottom of the range that has been popular since 2022.
“We are pleased to announce that we are a great opportunity to help you understand the importance of our efforts,” said Stephanie Gyad, Senior Economist at Global Indicators for the Conference Committee. “Most notable is that comments on the current administration and its policies dominated the response.”
Business and consumer sentiment surged after Trump’s November 5 victory over a less intense regulatory environment, tax cuts and hope for low inflation. Republican Trump slammed further 10% tariffs on Chinese imports in his first month in his office. Collection of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada was suspended until March. Trump raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 25% this month.
Massive gunfire
Tariffs are looming on imports of automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. At the same time, federal workers, primarily on probation, were fired by billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency, or Doge, an entity created by Trump.
US stocks fell to trust data. The dollar has been eased against a basket of currencies. The US Treasury yields have slipped.
Economists are not yet predicting a recession, but expect a long period of very slow economic growth and high inflation. It would put the Federal Reserve in a difficult place. The US Central Bank suspended interest rates cuts in January, but policymakers monitored the economic impact of Trump administration’s policies.
The Fed has reduced interest rates between its benchmarks by 100 basis points since September, when it launched its policy easing cycle. To tame inflation, we increased our policy rate by 5.25 percentage points in 2022 and 2023.
Consumers’ average 12-month inflation expectations jumped to 6%, the highest since May 2023, at 5.2% in February.
The so-called labour market differences in the survey are derived from data on respondents’ views on whether jobs are abundant or difficult, and fell from 19.4 to 17.1 last month.
This measure correlates with unemployment rates in the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly employment report.
