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Although recent economic data released by the US Bureau of Statistics show that the US economy is recovering strongly, opinion polls show that in the eyes of most Americans, the US economic situation seems to be much worse.
This phenomenon is called "atmosphere recession" by economists.
"everyone on the street says the economy is bad."
The latest poll conducted by the Financial Times and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan shows that 71 per cent of respondents believe that the US economy is in poor shape. Analysts say three consecutive years of high inflation have hit consumer sentiment.
A new survey conducted by Harris pollsters released by the Guardian also shows that nearly 3/5 (56%) of Americans think the United States is in recession.CasinorussianrouletteNearly half of Americans (49%) expect US stocks to fall this year; 55% of Americans think the US economy will only get worse.
Analysts believe that the key to dealing a blow to American public confidence is high inflation in the first place.
In a poll published by the Guardian, 70% of respondents said their biggest economic concern was the cost of living; about the same percentage (68%) said inflation was their biggest concern.
It is generally believed that the economic pressure they feel in their lives has not improved at all.
"if you ask everyone on the street, they will say that the economy is very bad. It's ridiculous that I spend more money and buy less than I used to. "
On May 21, local time, the Federal Reserve released its 2023 report on the State of the Household economy, which showed that although inflation slowed last year, it continued to have an impact on Americans' livelihoods.
Sixty-five per cent of adults said inflation had "worsened" their families' finances compared with the previous year, and 19 per cent of them said price changes had made their finances "worse".
In addition, nearly half (48 per cent) of adults said they had no money left after paying their monthly fixed expenses; another 17 per cent said they could not even pay all their bills.
According to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the total household debt of the United States reached 17% in the first quarter of this year.Casinorussianroulette.69 trillion dollars (about 128 trillion yuan), an all-time high.
They don't know who to trust when it comes to understanding the economy.
A key US consumer confidence index fell to its lowest level since November 2023 as inflation expectations worsened, according to data released by the University of Michigan.
The decline in consumer confidence has dealt a direct blow to retail in the United States.
Target, a retailer with nearly 2000 stores in the US, said on the 22nd that store sales fell 3.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year. This indicator reflects both the decline in the number and value of transactions, and this is the fourth consecutive quarter of decline.
Another supermarket giant, Wal-Mart, also said it was lowering commodity prices to remain competitive.
Zack Steinberg, a senior analyst at eMarketer, a well-known American economic analyst, points out that competitive price cuts are the only effective way to boost sales and attract attention.
Steinberg: "in all unnecessary, discretionary spending categories, retailers have to persuade consumers to open their wallets and spend." Middle-income consumers are becoming more and more concerned about how to spend money, and they will think twice before they act. "
Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell admitted that although inflation has continued to decline over the past two years, people are not happy because the prices they pay are still high.
According to the report, persistently high costs have led food manufacturers and restaurants to continue to raise prices. "it was 30 years ago that food spending 'ate' so much income," the report said.
The current economic situation in the United States is called a "climate recession" by economists. The term was coined by Kayla Scanlon, an online celebrity economic commentator, to describe pessimism about the state of the economy that even good economic statistics cannot dispel.
Liu Ying, a researcher at the Chongyang Institute of Finance at Renmin University of China, pointed out that the pressure of inflation among ordinary Americans is obvious because the inflation rate in the United States was as high as 9.1% before, although it has now dropped to about 3.5%. But people's feelings are a cumulative process. In addition, Americans are skeptical about the growth rate of GDP because the service industry data in the three major industries are on the high side, resulting in a huge difference between macro data performance and individual perception.
Some analysts believe that the intensification of party strife also directly affects people's feelings about the economy.
According to a poll conducted by Harris, 67% of Republicans believe that the US economy is shrinking, inflation is rising, and the overall economy is deteriorating, while only 49% of Democrats share the same view. Republicans are more convinced than Democrats that mismanagement has led to economic deterioration.
What almost all respondents, both Republicans and Democrats, agree on is that they don't know who to trust when it comes to understanding the economy. Opinion polls show that more than 60 percent of Americans question the authenticity of economic news.
As John Guzema, CEO of Harris Poll, says, Americans' view of the data is that economists may say things are getting better, but people don't feel it in their lives.