The US economy is hurting even more now

[spidermike007]

The tariffs are coming into effect and Americans are likely to see some serious inflation and large price increases. $10,000 more for a new vehicle? How will this all shake out? 

 

People are falsely claiming that due to the stock market being strong, the economy is strong. This is beyond false. It would appear the rich are driving the economy now. 75% of Americans are too afraid to buy anything but essentials. Trump policies have scared off the consumer. 

 

“We are setting ourselves up to be a highly uncompetitive country,” he said, “while alienating our allies and pissing off the biggest markets.”

 

There’s one person who can afford to be cavalier about the uncertainty that he’s creating, and that’s Donald Trump,” said Rachel West, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who worked in the Biden White House on labor policy. “The rest of Americans are already paying the price for that uncertainty.”

 

The economy is increasingly dependent on a small sliver of superstar companies and wealthy consumers to stay afloat because these are the only firms and families able to withstand the tariff onslaught. A highly concentrated economy increases the risk of a downturn — and will leave many middle-class Americans frustrated and strained.

 

But the shift exposed on Friday is that a growing number of industries have transitioned from weak hiring to layoffs. In the past three months, manufacturing, professional and business services, mining, residential construction, warehouses, K-12 education, the federal government, and even retailers have been cutting jobs. The labor market is going from frozen to cracking.

 

Even more alarming is how reliant the economy has become on spending binges by the richest Americans.
The top 10 percent of earners now drive about half of spending, according to Moody’s, up from 36 percent three decades ago. These people will determine if the U.S. economy avoids a recession. These are households earning $250,000 or more, and they are largely doing just fine, buoyed by strong stock-market gains, mansions and rental properties that have shot up in value in recent years, and a rebound in business dealmaking. The wealthy continue to spend on lavish vacations, parties and events, and that masks the strain that many middle-class and moderate-income families are experiencing.

 

Already, many workers have seen their hours reduced and fewer opportunities for overtime and bonuses. Credit card and auto loan delinquencies are above pre-pandemic levels, Federal Reserve and Fitch Ratings data show. And millions of Americans have missed student loan repayments, triggering credit score drops. The middle class is basically tapped out financially. Any further rise in costs from tariffs or decline in income from job losses would be tough to absorb, especially as government aid programs decline. 

 

Some excerpts were taken from this article. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/06/economy-jobs-middle-class-recession-tariffs/

 

 

[novacova]

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Nice that you have posted a photo of your idol.

 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, novacova said:

Nice that you have posted a photo of your idol.

 

Shouldn't that be "my" and not "your".........

[novacova]

1 minute ago, transam said:

Shouldn't that be "my" and not "your".........

Your obsession, not mine.

[save the frogs]

oh no. more doom and gloom.

 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, novacova said:

Your obsession, not mine.

Oh no, it's your mistake......😋

[Keep Right]

Donald Trump’s Six Biggest Wins at 200 Days in Office

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/08/07/donald-trumps-six-biggest-wins-200-days-office/

 

"Hurting" the U.S. stock market is at an all time high. More like winning under President Trump

[Keep Right]

Rahm Emanuel says Dem struggles not a 'marketing problem,' tells party to fix young men’s economic problems

https://www.foxnews.com/media/rahm-emanuel-dem-struggles-not-marketing-problem-tells-party-fix-young-mens-economic-problems

 

Young Democratic men are spending too much time on Tic Toc and not working while the Republicans are changing America for the better. 

[Schoggibueb]

16 minutes ago, Keep Right said:

Donald Trump’s Six Biggest Wins at 200 Days in Office

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/08/07/donald-trumps-six-biggest-wins-200-days-office/

 

"Hurting" the U.S. stock market is at an all time high. More like winning under President Trump

Breitbart as source - really?

[Purdey]

No one seems to have an opinion on the actual topic. Never mind.

[Keep Right]

Stocks and bonds are behaving like the US economy is recession-proof

https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-us-economy-outlook-stock-market-valuations-bond-yields-2025-7

 

More proof that the U.S. economy is booming and there is no chance of a recession. Read the article for statistics. 

[bubblegum]

Trump has a new sharpy, showing new "secret" numbers on how good things are. Jus seen a clip on ABC news. Hilarious.

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Keep Right said:

Donald Trump’s Six Biggest Wins at 200 Days in Office

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/08/07/donald-trumps-six-biggest-wins-200-days-office/

 

"Hurting" the U.S. stock market is at an all time high. More like winning under President Trump

It is truly beyond simplistic to attribute, or to even make a correlation between the Dow, a thousand points off its peak, and a healthy US economy. There are 50 other factors that have to be weighed before one can make such a conclusion. 

 

If we're going to have a discussion about this, please at least make an attempt not to dumb it down into jingoism. 

[Wingate]

51 minutes ago, Keep Right said:

Stocks and bonds are behaving like the US economy is recession-proof

https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-us-economy-outlook-stock-market-valuations-bond-yields-2025-7

 

More proof that the U.S. economy is booming and there is no chance of a recession. Read the article for statistics. 

Would those be Trump's "statistics" (Cue the famous Mark Twin quote).

 

Inflation, by the number used by the Federal Reserve to measure the rate (Personal Expenditures Consumption Price Index) came in at 2.6% last month, well above the Fed inflation target rate of 2%.

 

Long term UE (more than 27 weeks unemployed) has grown by 300,000 since March.

 

The jobs numbers....well, that's now an old story of a petulant child shooting the messenger.

 

Manufacturing jobs have fallen every month since May, and construction jobs are flat.

 

Core GDP---a complex calculation that accounts for inventory differences, seasonal factors, etc.---was down in Q2, despite the headline number recovering from the -.5% of Trump's 1st Quarter.

 

Many companies, during their earnings conference calls, have said they will be forced to raise prices due to the tariffs, so the real effect of the highest tariffs since the Great Depression and Smoot-Hawley have yet to fully kick in.

 

Whistle past the graveyard if it makes you feel good, but reality bites hard when it closes its jaws on those who project Biden's booming economy into an endless future. That +2.8% 4th Q 2024 GDP gain is fading into the background of tariffs and mismanagement.