The country isn’t so confident that Donald Trump’s economic policies are making America great again.
A chart shared Friday by The Washington Post’s economic columnist Heather Long hinted at bad news for the economy, with U.S. households growing increasingly concerned that they’ll be financially worse off a year into the future than they are now. The chart was released by the University of Michigan as part of its consumer sentiment surveys.
“This is one of the scariest charts I’ve seen in awhile,” Long said in an X post. “In the ‘vibe-cession’ under Biden, people gave the economy poor grades. But they were generally optimistic about their personal finances (esp the rich).”
“Under Trump 2025, people at all income levels are worried they will be worse off in a year. This is the type of situation that causes people to really pull back on spending. This is what is different than 2023 or 2024.”
That sentiment could convince people to hold onto their dollars as fears of a recession intensify.
A report by the University of Michigan’s survey of consumers in February forecasted similarly bad news for the American economy. Last month, inflation expectations jumped an entire percentage point, from 3.3 percent in January to 4.3 percent in February, marking the second consecutive month of “unusually large increases,” according to the university report.
Polled consumers “expressed unease” about several economic factors, including unemployment as well as Trump’s aggressive economic policies.
More than half of the surveyed respondents expected unemployment to rise over the next 12 months—the most people to believe so since 2020—while 40 percent of consumers “spontaneously mentioned” Trump’s tariffs “generally unfavorably,” according to the report.
“While consumers appear relatively secure about their own incomes, with most expecting gains in the year ahead, only 16% expect their income gains to outpace inflation,” the report reads. “This is yet another sign that consumers are worried about the trajectory of prices.”
“Overall, inflation expectations are trending in an unfavorable direction,” the report noted, adding that “expectations matter because consumers have shown that they will act upon them.”
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