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Time of India
29-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
April gloom: Americans brace for economic storm as confidence plunges to 2020 lows, with job market fears echoing Great Recession woes
US consumer confidence has hit its lowest point in five years, sparking fears about the economy as tariffs and rising prices weigh heavily on Americans. The latest data from The Conference Board shows consumer confidence fell to 86 in April, a steep drop blamed on President Trump's new tariffs on imports and goods from China. Worries about a potential recession, job slowdown, and reduced spending are growing fast. With fewer people planning big purchases or vacations, the economy may be slowing down more than expected. Dive into the full story to understand what this means for your wallet and future. US consumer confidence falls to five-year low as tariffs spark recession fears. Learn why Americans are cutting back on spending, skipping vacations, and pulling back from big purchases. Full data breakdown on what's shaking the economy in 2025. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Why is consumer confidence falling so fast? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What does this mean for jobs and the broader economy? How are people changing their spending habits? How are financial markets reacting to the consumer outlook? S&P 500 is down 6% Dow Jones has dropped 5% Nasdaq is off by 10% in 2025 Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What's next for the US economy? FAQs: American consumers are losing faith in the economy at a rapid pace. According to a new report from The Conference Board, US consumer confidence dropped sharply in April, reaching its lowest level in five years. The latest consumer confidence index fell by 7.9 points to 86, a number not seen since May 2020—right in the early months of the COVID-19 is the fifth straight month of decline, showing a clear trend that Americans are growing more anxious about where the economy is headed. Much of that fear stems from the impact of widespread tariffs, especially those imposed on Chinese goods and key imports like steel and of the key reasons behind this decline is concern over tariffs. The Conference Board noted that mentions of tariffs hit an all-time high in consumer survey responses. President Donald Trump has recently imposed a 10% tariff on nearly all imports, along with a massive 145% tariff on most Chinese goods. Separate tariffs have also been placed on steel, aluminum, and moves have sparked fears of rising prices, and that's clearly weighing on people's minds. According to the AP-NORC Center, about half of Americans now worry the economy could slip into a recession. That concern is starting to show up in how people think about jobs, spending, and income.A specific part of the report—covering short-term expectations for income, business, and job conditions—fell even more sharply. That measure plunged 12.5 points to 54.4, the lowest in over 13 years. Economists generally see any reading below 80 as a sign that a recession could be also growing concern about the labor market. Nearly one in three Americans now expects hiring to slow down in the coming months. That's nearly the same level seen back in April 2009, in the middle of the Great full picture will become clearer soon. On Wednesday, the government will release its official report on economic growth in the first quarter, and many economists expect it to show a sharp slowdown in consumer spending—especially after strong holiday sales last key update will come Friday, when the Labor Department releases hiring and unemployment data. While job gains are still expected, some analysts are warning that hiring could drop significantly. If that happens, it could further shake consumer confidence and aren't just worried—they're starting to act on those concerns. Fewer people are planning to make major purchases like homes or cars. Rising mortgage rates and high prices have already slowed down home sales this on services is also falling. The number of Americans planning an overseas vacation in the next six months dropped to 16.4%, down from 24.1% in December. And one of the biggest drops was in dining out, with the Conference Board saying it saw one of the largest declines on record in earning more than $125,000 and those aged 35 to 55 reported the steepest drops in confidence, showing that economic concerns are hitting across income levels—not just lower-income dip in confidence may also be tied to recent market volatility. Stock and bond prices swung sharply earlier this month, creating even more uncertainty. Although markets have rebounded slightly, the numbers remain down for the year:This financial instability adds another layer of concern for consumers, especially those nearing retirement or with heavy investments in the stock warn that if this loss of confidence continues, it could drag down overall economic growth. As Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said: 'Rattled consumers spend less than confident consumers. If confidence sags and consumers retrench, growth will go down.'Americans are worried about rising prices from new tariffs and a possible raise prices on goods, making consumers feel less secure about spending.
CNN
28-02-2025
- CNN
Your fear of flying can be explained by a 1970s toilet paper shortage
Sometimes perception becomes people's reality. That certainly feels like the case after last month's deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, as every accident or close call seems to get magnified, raising questions about America's airline safety. The long-term and preliminary short-term statistics suggest that airline travel is about as safe as ever. But talk to any of your friends who are remotely afraid of flying, and I bet they will tell you that recent events have shaken them up. Our fears often run ahead of reality. We've seen panics that really weren't supported by data many times in the last half a century – in sometimes serious and sometimes humorous ways. The percentage of Americans who say airline travel is safe has dropped from 71% in 2024 to 64% in February 2025, according to an AP-NORC Center poll. Those who say it is unsafe has risen from 12% to 20%. We see the same thing in Google search data: Searches for 'is flying safe' have reached their second-highest level of all time. The only time it was higher was in March 2020, when people were worried about traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic. We don't know yet whether the current fears will result in fewer people flying, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Look at what happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: After the number of flyers increased throughout the 1990s and into 2000, the number of airline passengers dropped in 2001 and 2002. This decline may very well have been exacerbated by another airplane crash in November 2001. It appears that many of these passengers who decided not to travel by plane did so by car instead. This caused car fatalities to rise - beyond the expected number of fatalities if airline and car travel levels remained at their normal levels. But, as it turned out, the period after 2001 was one of the safest on record for flying. American airports now have more security screenings and identification checks, and there have been no more deadly terrorist attacks on US airplanes since 9/11. Fewer airline fatalities overall were recorded in the 10-year period after 2001 than any previously on record. When I had a conversation with CNN host Michael Smerconish this past weekend, he and I pointed out a number of other instances where beliefs ran ahead of the data and sometimes caused massive changes in behavior. Interestingly, the attacks of 9/11 kicked another story out of the news: 'Summer of the Shark.' The media hyped up shark attacks after a few happened during the summer of 2001. News story after news story led some in the media to chastise people who wanted to enjoy the beach that summer. These high-profile attacks, as it turns out, were not representative of growing people were attacked or died by sharks in 2001 than the prior year. Last fall, the biggest story was lots of unidentified drones flying the skies of New Jersey. More than five times as many people searched for drones on Google in December than any month since Google started tracking searches back in 2004. Everyone seemed worried that something bad was going on, but that was based on basically nothing. I even did a television segment on drones in which I basically said we knew nothing. As it turns out, no one ever proved that something nefarious was going on. The federal government ended up saying any additional drones were authorized by the FAA. We don't even know if there were really more drones in the skies or people were just more active in trying to look for them. The drone story, unlike the others mentioned, was mostly harmless. I'm not quite sure it measures up to what happened in 1973 and 1974, however. The king of late-night television, Johnny Carson, went on air December 19, 1973, and talked about 'an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States. We gotta quit writing on it!' Carson was reacting to a report from Wisconsin Rep. Harold Froehlich who had said, 'The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months… It is a problem that will potentially touch every American…' Here was the thing: There was no toilet paper shortage. Froehlich was talking about the potential for one. Most other media, besides Carson, really didn't pick up on the story. But at a time when there were other shortages in the country (e.g. oil), people took Carson's words to heart. The result was that stores started rationing toilet paper. The cause, as Walter Cronkite reported at the time: 'unfounded rumors of a shortage has caused excessive demand at retail outlets.' Eventually, things got bad enough that Carson went on the air to tell Americans that there was, in fact, no shortage. Things got back to normal when Americans, too, realized there was no shortage. The situation with flying currently is obviously more serious than toilet paper. Still, it's a good reminder that we sometimes let our emotions get ahead of the data.
CNN
28-02-2025
- CNN
Your fear of flying can be explained by a 1970s toilet paper shortage
Sometimes perception becomes people's reality. That certainly feels like the case after last month's deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, as every accident or close call seems to get magnified, raising questions about America's airline safety. The long-term and preliminary short-term statistics suggest that airline travel is about as safe as ever. But talk to any of your friends who are remotely afraid of flying, and I bet they will tell you that recent events have shaken them up. Our fears often run ahead of reality. We've seen panics that really weren't supported by data many times in the last half a century – in sometimes serious and sometimes humorous ways. The percentage of Americans who say airline travel is safe has dropped from 71% in 2024 to 64% in February 2025, according to an AP-NORC Center poll. Those who say it is unsafe has risen from 12% to 20%. We see the same thing in Google search data: Searches for 'is flying safe' have reached their second-highest level of all time. The only time it was higher was in March 2020, when people were worried about traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic. We don't know yet whether the current fears will result in fewer people flying, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Look at what happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: After the number of flyers increased throughout the 1990s and into 2000, the number of airline passengers dropped in 2001 and 2002. This decline may very well have been exacerbated by another airplane crash in November 2001. It appears that many of these passengers who decided not to travel by plane did so by car instead. This caused car fatalities to rise - beyond the expected number of fatalities if airline and car travel levels remained at their normal levels. But, as it turned out, the period after 2001 was one of the safest on record for flying. American airports now have more security screenings and identification checks, and there have been no more deadly terrorist attacks on US airplanes since 9/11. Fewer airline fatalities overall were recorded in the 10-year period after 2001 than any previously on record. When I had a conversation with CNN host Michael Smerconish this past weekend, he and I pointed out a number of other instances where beliefs ran ahead of the data and sometimes caused massive changes in behavior. Interestingly, the attacks of 9/11 kicked another story out of the news: 'Summer of the Shark.' The media hyped up shark attacks after a few happened during the summer of 2001. News story after news story led some in the media to chastise people who wanted to enjoy the beach that summer. These high-profile attacks, as it turns out, were not representative of growing people were attacked or died by sharks in 2001 than the prior year. Last fall, the biggest story was lots of unidentified drones flying the skies of New Jersey. More than five times as many people searched for drones on Google in December than any month since Google started tracking searches back in 2004. Everyone seemed worried that something bad was going on, but that was based on basically nothing. I even did a television segment on drones in which I basically said we knew nothing. As it turns out, no one ever proved that something nefarious was going on. The federal government ended up saying any additional drones were authorized by the FAA. We don't even know if there were really more drones in the skies or people were just more active in trying to look for them. The drone story, unlike the others mentioned, was mostly harmless. I'm not quite sure it measures up to what happened in 1973 and 1974, however. The king of late-night television, Johnny Carson, went on air December 19, 1973, and talked about 'an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States. We gotta quit writing on it!' Carson was reacting to a report from Wisconsin Rep. Harold Froehlich who had said, 'The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months… It is a problem that will potentially touch every American…' Here was the thing: There was no toilet paper shortage. Froehlich was talking about the potential for one. Most other media, besides Carson, really didn't pick up on the story. But at a time when there were other shortages in the country (e.g. oil), people took Carson's words to heart. The result was that stores started rationing toilet paper. The cause, as Walter Cronkite reported at the time: 'unfounded rumors of a shortage has caused excessive demand at retail outlets.' Eventually, things got bad enough that Carson went on the air to tell Americans that there was, in fact, no shortage. Things got back to normal when Americans, too, realized there was no shortage. The situation with flying currently is obviously more serious than toilet paper. Still, it's a good reminder that we sometimes let our emotions get ahead of the data.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
What a 1970s toilet paper shortage teaches us about our fear of flying
Sometimes perception becomes people's reality. That certainly feels like the case after last month's deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, as every accident or close call seems to get magnified, raising questions about America's airline safety. The long-term and preliminary short-term statistics suggest that airline travel is about as safe as ever. But talk to any of your friends who are remotely afraid of flying, and I bet they will tell you that recent events have shaken them up. Our fears often run ahead of reality. We've seen panics that really weren't supported by data many times in the last half a century – in sometimes serious and sometimes humorous ways. The percentage of Americans who say airline travel is safe has dropped from 71% in 2024 to 64% in February 2025, according to an AP-NORC Center poll. Those who say it is unsafe has risen from 12% to 20%. We see the same thing in Google search data: Searches for 'is flying safe' have reached their second-highest level of all time. The only time it was higher was in March 2020, when people were worried about traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic. We don't know yet whether the current fears will result in fewer people flying, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Look at what happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: After the number of flyers increased throughout the 1990s and into 2000, the number of airline passengers dropped in 2001 and 2002. This decline may very well have been exacerbated by another airplane crash in November 2001. It appears that many of these passengers who decided not to travel by plane did so by car instead. This caused car fatalities to rise - beyond the expected number of fatalities if airline and car travel levels remained at their normal levels. But, as it turned out, the period after 2001 was one of the safest on record for flying. American airports now have more security screenings and identification checks, and there have been no more deadly terrorist attacks on US airplanes since 9/11. Fewer airline fatalities overall were recorded in the 10-year period after 2001 than any previously on record. When I had a conversation with CNN host Michael Smerconish this past weekend, he and I pointed out a number of other instances where beliefs ran ahead of the data and sometimes caused massive changes in behavior. Interestingly, the attacks of 9/11 kicked another story out of the news: 'Summer of the Shark.' The media hyped up shark attacks after a few happened during the summer of 2001. News story after news story led some in the media to chastise people who wanted to enjoy the beach that summer. These high-profile attacks, as it turns out, were not representative of growing people were attacked or died by sharks in 2001 than the prior year. Last fall, the biggest story was lots of unidentified drones flying the skies of New Jersey. More than five times as many people searched for drones on Google in December than any month since Google started tracking searches back in 2004. Everyone seemed worried that something bad was going on, but that was based on basically nothing. I even did a television segment on drones in which I basically said we knew nothing. As it turns out, no one ever proved that something nefarious was going on. The federal government ended up saying any additional drones were authorized by the FAA. We don't even know if there were really more drones in the skies or people were just more active in trying to look for them. The drone story, unlike the others mentioned, was mostly harmless. I'm not quite sure it measures up to what happened in 1973 and 1974, however. The king of late-night television, Johnny Carson, went on air December 19, 1973, and talked about 'an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States. We gotta quit writing on it!' Carson was reacting to a report from Wisconsin Rep. Harold Froehlich who had said, 'The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months… It is a problem that will potentially touch every American…' Here was the thing: There was no toilet paper shortage. Froehlich was talking about the potential for one. Most other media, besides Carson, really didn't pick up on the story. But at a time when there were other shortages in the country (e.g. oil), people took Carson's words to heart. The result was that stores started rationing toilet paper. The cause, as Walter Cronkite reported at the time: 'unfounded rumors of a shortage has caused excessive demand at retail outlets.' Eventually, things got bad enough that Carson went on the air to tell Americans that there was, in fact, no shortage. Things got back to normal when Americans, too, realized there was no shortage. The situation with flying currently is obviously more serious than toilet paper. Still, it's a good reminder that we sometimes let our emotions get ahead of the data.
CNN
28-02-2025
- CNN
What a 1970s toilet paper shortage teaches us about our fear of flying
Sometimes perception becomes people's reality. That certainly feels like the case after last month's deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, as every accident or close call seems to get magnified, raising questions about America's airline safety. The long-term and preliminary short-term statistics suggest that airline travel is about as safe as ever. But talk to any of your friends who are remotely afraid of flying, and I bet they will tell you that recent events have shaken them up. Our fears often run ahead of reality. We've seen panics that really weren't supported by data many times in the last half a century – in sometimes serious and sometimes humorous ways. The percentage of Americans who say airline travel is safe has dropped from 71% in 2024 to 64% in February 2025, according to an AP-NORC Center poll. Those who say it is unsafe has risen from 12% to 20%. We see the same thing in Google search data: Searches for 'is flying safe' have reached their second-highest level of all time. The only time it was higher was in March 2020, when people were worried about traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic. We don't know yet whether the current fears will result in fewer people flying, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Look at what happened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks: After the number of flyers increased throughout the 1990s and into 2000, the number of airline passengers dropped in 2001 and 2002. This decline may very well have been exacerbated by another airplane crash in November 2001. It appears that many of these passengers who decided not to travel by plane did so by car instead. This caused car fatalities to rise - beyond the expected number of fatalities if airline and car travel levels remained at their normal levels. But, as it turned out, the period after 2001 was one of the safest on record for flying. American airports now have more security screenings and identification checks, and there have been no more deadly terrorist attacks on US airplanes since 9/11. Fewer airline fatalities overall were recorded in the 10-year period after 2001 than any previously on record. When I had a conversation with CNN host Michael Smerconish this past weekend, he and I pointed out a number of other instances where beliefs ran ahead of the data and sometimes caused massive changes in behavior. Interestingly, the attacks of 9/11 kicked another story out of the news: 'Summer of the Shark.' The media hyped up shark attacks after a few happened during the summer of 2001. News story after news story led some in the media to chastise people who wanted to enjoy the beach that summer. These high-profile attacks, as it turns out, were not representative of growing people were attacked or died by sharks in 2001 than the prior year. Last fall, the biggest story was lots of unidentified drones flying the skies of New Jersey. More than five times as many people searched for drones on Google in December than any month since Google started tracking searches back in 2004. Everyone seemed worried that something bad was going on, but that was based on basically nothing. I even did a television segment on drones in which I basically said we knew nothing. As it turns out, no one ever proved that something nefarious was going on. The federal government ended up saying any additional drones were authorized by the FAA. We don't even know if there were really more drones in the skies or people were just more active in trying to look for them. The drone story, unlike the others mentioned, was mostly harmless. I'm not quite sure it measures up to what happened in 1973 and 1974, however. The king of late-night television, Johnny Carson, went on air December 19, 1973, and talked about 'an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States. We gotta quit writing on it!' Carson was reacting to a report from Wisconsin Rep. Harold Froehlich who had said, 'The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months… It is a problem that will potentially touch every American…' Here was the thing: There was no toilet paper shortage. Froehlich was talking about the potential for one. Most other media, besides Carson, really didn't pick up on the story. But at a time when there were other shortages in the country (e.g. oil), people took Carson's words to heart. The result was that stores started rationing toilet paper. The cause, as Walter Cronkite reported at the time: 'unfounded rumors of a shortage has caused excessive demand at retail outlets.' Eventually, things got bad enough that Carson went on the air to tell Americans that there was, in fact, no shortage. Things got back to normal when Americans, too, realized there was no shortage. The situation with flying currently is obviously more serious than toilet paper. Still, it's a good reminder that we sometimes let our emotions get ahead of the data.
