"How Can Anyone Possibly Claim That The
U.S. Economy Is Doing Well With All Of This Going On?"
by Michael Snyder
"How in the world can anybody possibly claim that the U.S. economy is in good shape? Honestly, I don’t see how anyone can make a rational argument that this is the case. Actually, the only people that seem to be trying to claim that the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction are those in the upper tiers of the economic food chain. At this stage, those in the lower tiers of the economic food chain are very well aware of how much they are suffering. Poverty, homelessness and hunger are rapidly growing all over America right now. But if you still have plenty of money and those around you still have plenty of money, you may be wondering what all of the fuss is about. If you are one of those people, hopefully this article will be a wake up call for you.
Let’s start with the housing market. On Friday, we learned that sales of previously owned homes in December 2023 were 6.2 percent lower than they were in December 2022…"Sales of previously owned homes fell 1% in December compared with November to 3.78 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 6.2% lower than in December 2022, marking the lowest level since August 2010."
For 2023 as a whole, sales of previously owned homes were the lowest that we have seen in 28 years…"Home sales fell to their lowest level in 28 years in 2023 as soaring mortgage rates and red-hot prices dampened buyer demand. Figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) show sales of existing properties slid 19 percent last year to 4.09 million – their lowest level since 1995."
Can anyone out there come up with a way to put a positive spin on those numbers? I certainly can’t. Meanwhile, 2023 was a year when Americans got further behind on their credit card bills “in 49 of the 50 states”…"The number of people falling behind on their credit card bills increased in 49 of the 50 states last year, a sobering new report reveals. As inflation took its toll on household budgets, Americans in their millions became delinquent on credit card debt – with some states much more badly affected than others. According to analysis by WalletHub, the number of borrowers struggling to keep on track of their credit card bills has risen the fastest in Oregon. Between September 2022 and September 2023, delinquencies in the state soared by 51 percent." Delinquency rates on all forms of credit have been steadily rising from coast to coast. This will be an important trend to watch in 2024.
Meanwhile, large layoff announcements continue to pile up at a very frightening pace. For example, Macy’s just announced that it will be laying off a total of 2,350 workers…"Department store chain Macy’s is planning to lay off about 13% of its corporate staff and close five stores in an effort to trim costs and redirect spending to improve the customer experience. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Thursday, adding that the job cuts will total about 2,350 positions, or about 3.5% of Macy’s overall workforce excluding seasonal hires."
And Wayfair is telling us that somewhere around 1,650 of their workers will soon be hitting the bricks…"Wayfair is cutting 13% of its global workforce as the digital home goods retailer continues its efforts to trim down its structure, cut out layers of management and reduce costs after going “overboard” with corporate hiring during the Covid pandemic, it announced Friday. The company plans to lay off around 1,650 employees, including 19% of its corporate team, with a focus on people in management and leadership positions, Wayfair said."
I apologize in advance if there are some major layoff announcements that I miss in the days ahead. We are witnessing such a large tsunami of layoffs now that it is virtually impossible to keep up with them all.
On the west coast, employees of the Los Angeles Times are extremely upset about the “massive” layoffs that are reportedly coming…"With “massive” and “significant” layoffs coming soon, “the L.A. Times Guild announced a one-day walkout from both its L.A. and Washington D.C. offices this Friday,” reports TheWrap. Staffers are “abstaining from work for the entire day while also staging a rally. It’s the first union work stoppage in the newsroom’s history, according to the union, dating back to when it started printing in 1881.” This act of suicide is called the “Rally to Save Local Journalism” and took place Friday at noon.
And earlier I was stunned to learn that the entire staff of Sports Illustrated is being terminated…"Following through on a warning earlier this month, Authentic Brands Group has revoked Sports Illustrated‘s license to publish due to a missed payment. As a result of the move, the entire staff of the 70-year-old print and online publication was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated. “We appreciate the work and efforts of everyone who has contributed to the SI brand and business,” SI operator The Arena Group wrote in a memo to employees that set off outrage on social media." Once upon a time, Sports Illustrated was a truly great magazine. Sadly, those days are long gone."
There is so much bad news these days. At this point the economic outlook is so troubling that even Google is getting ready to conduct yet another round of layoffs…"Google has laid off over a thousand employees across various departments since January 10th. CEO Sundar Pichai’s message is to brace for more cuts. “We have ambitious goals and will be investing in our big priorities this year,” Pichai told all Google employees on Wednesday in an internal memo that was shared with me. “The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices.” So far, those “tough choices” have included layoffs and reorganizations in Google’s hardware, ad sales, search, shopping, maps, policy, core engineering, and YouTube teams.
Of course what I have shared with you above is just a small sampling of what is really going on out there. For many more recent layoff announcements, please see my previous article entitled “Alert! Here Is A List Of 20 Large Companies That Have Just Decided To Conduct Mass Layoffs”.
Before I end this article, I wanted to update all of you on the horrifying stock market crash in China. Zero Hedge is reporting that Chinese stocks just experienced their “worst weekly loss since March 2023″…"Amid ‘snowball derivative liquidations‘, China’s stock market is falling faster than its population. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index crashed 6.5% this week – its worst weekly loss since March 2023 with Wednesday seeing the biggest daily loss since Oct 2022 as the index plummeted to key support levels around the Oct 2022 lows…
The phrase “snowball derivative liquidations” really got my attention, and a lot of you know why. I have been warning about the derivatives bubble in my books for over a decade. Derivatives are going to become a very hot topic the closer we get to a full-blown implosion of the global financial system. We are in far more trouble than most people realize. 2024 is going to be such a tumultuous year, but many of the “experts” will continue to insist that everything is “just fine” for as long as they can."
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Job cuts and much more.
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Financial Stress Index
"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: credit, equity valuation, funding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United States, other advanced economies, and emerging markets."
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