Important Takeaways:
- Some consumers have been weighed down by a “vibecession” for a while now — and those feelings might get worse, experts say.
- A “vibecession” is the disconnect between consumer sentiment and economic data, said Kyla Scanlon, who coined the term in 2022. Scanlon is the author of “In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work.”
- “It’s this idea that economic data is telling us one story and consumer sentiment is telling us another,” she tells CNBC.
- Nearly half, 45%, of voters say they are financially worse off now than they were four years ago, and the highest rate since 2008, according to NBC Exit Poll data.
- Yet economic metrics show the economy is booming.
- “Americans’ lingering frustration with the economy and their personal circumstances appears rooted in the persistently high prices that remain post-pandemic,” he said. “This makes for daily sticker shocks when buying groceries, getting a burger, paying rent and filling up the car.”
- The consumer price index, a gauge measuring the costs of goods and services in the U.S., grew to a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in September, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Important Takeaways:
- Amazon Workers Say They Struggle to Afford Food, Rent
- Five years after Amazon.com Inc. raised wages to $15 an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.
- The national study, published Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, asked US employees about their economic wellbeing, including whether they’d skipped meals, went hungry, or were worried about being able to make rent or mortgage payments.
- Fifty-three percent of respondents reported that they’d experienced one or more forms of food insecurity in the prior three months, and 48% experienced one or more forms of housing insecurity. Workers who said they took unpaid time off after getting hurt on the job were more likely to report trouble paying their bills, the researchers found.
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Important Takeaways:
- Joe Did That: Inflation Costs Americans an Extra $1K Monthly
- Thanks to the wonders of Bidenomics, the average American is spending over a thousand dollars extra a month. Fortunately, Biden is focused on important things — like funding jihad supporters in Gaza and paying off student loans with taxpayer money the government cannot spare.
- From Fox Business:
- The typical U.S. household needed to pay $227 more a month in March to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation, according to calculations from Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi shared with FOX Business.
- Americans are paying on average $784 more each month compared with the same time two years ago and $1,069 more compared with three years ago, before the inflation crisis began… when compared with January 2021, shortly before the inflation crisis began, prices remain up a stunning 18.94%.
- Food, child care, and rent — the necessities — are devastatingly expensive under the Biden administration. Fox quoted Bright MLS chief economist Lisa Sturtevant, “Inflation has not just stalled, but it is moving in the wrong direction.” Unfortunately, low-income Americans — those who can least afford to spend more — are of course hardest hit by rising costs.
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Important Takeaways:
- Emergency Management shares info, recommendations ahead of eclipse
- As we get closer to the upcoming solar eclipse, the state government is reminding people to prepare for the event.
- In a planning notice on the state government’s website, the state said the eclipse will visit Oklahoma on April 8, 2024 at 1:44 p.m., with the final exit of the Moon’s shadow from the state at 1:51 p.m.
- Due to being in the path of totality, state agencies are expecting a surge of tourists. The Department of Emergency Management says anywhere from 17,000 to 66,000 visitors are expected.
- The path of totality will stretch across southeastern Oklahoma. The path will completely cover McCurtain County, where the Oklahoma National Guard announced they will assist.
- To prepare for the eclipse, the state laid out some tips to plan ahead.
- Oklahomans should schedule errands and appointments a few days in advance before the eclipse as well as stock up on gas and groceries. The state also recommends having multiple forms of communication besides cellular, being careful on the road and staying updated on weather conditions.
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Important Takeaways:
- Map Shows Warnings for People to Stock Up on Food Ahead of Solar Eclipse
- Texas officials have issued a slew of warnings, including that people living within the path of totality should stock up on groceries and gas and run any errands—such as filling prescriptions—in the days before the eclipse. One official also urged pet owners to stock up on supplies for their animals.
- A webpage dedicated to solar eclipse preparation for southeastern Oklahoma said that several state agencies are preparing for the eclipse.
- Officials in Ohio have said that traffic delays are inevitable, according to News 5 Cleveland. The Ohio Department of Transportation is urging Ohio residents to fill their cars with gas and keep snacks and water handy in case of long delays
- Up to 1 million people are expected to travel to Indiana to view the eclipse, according to Indianapolis news station WTHR, and state police are urging residents to prepare for overwhelming traffic. State officials suggest keeping cell phones charged, stocking up on essentials and filling cars with gas ahead of the eclipse.
- The State of New York is urging residents and visitors to “plan to stay in one place for the day,” as traffic was expected to be overwhelming.
- The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was on August 21, 2017. The next one will not occur in North America until 2044.
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Important Takeaways:
- Since the start of the month, criminal groups have been attacking with unprecedented coordination the last remnants of the Haitian state – the airport, police stations, government buildings, the National Penitentiary.
- Leaving the city isn’t an option this time; the airport, under siege by gangs, has been forced to close
- Port-au-Prince’s gangs are still choking off the supply of food, fuel and water across the city
- Fear, mistrust, and anger reign. Death is on everyone’s mind.
- The indelible mark of extrajudicial executions – a stretch of black soot thick and irregular across the pavement – is all that remains of hundreds of suspected criminals killed by residents, their bodies disposed of by flame according to a local security source.
- Today, talk of a political solution sounds more than ever like wishful thinking as long as gunshots ring out in the evenings, puncturing the city’s hush.
- Increasingly, the only thing that everyone shares is trauma.
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Important Takeaways:
- Startling new report finds hormone-warping chemicals in 99 PERCENT of food sold in American stores – which may raise risk of cancer, autism and infertility
- ‘Forever chemicals’ linked to cancer are found in virtually every food product sold in American stores, a shocking report suggests.
- The watchdog Consumer Reports tested 85 everyday items for the presence of phthalates and bisphenols, two types of PFAS chemicals used to make plastics.
- The researchers tried to make their sample size as broad as possible – testing water, soda, cereal, bread, meat, fish, condiments, desserts and even baby food.
- All but one product tested positive for the substances, which have been dubbed ‘forever chemicals’ because they are virtually impossible to break down in the body where they cause untold health problems.
- It comes amid growing fears about the massive amounts of chemicals being ingested by Americans every year. A study earlier this week found water bottled contain a quarter of a million pieces of microscopic plastics.
- The product with the highest amount of phthalates per serving in nanograms was Annie’s canned organic cheesy ravioli, which contained 53,580 nanograms of phthalates per serving.
- Exposure to phthalates has been linked to asthma, ADHD, breast cancer, obesity and type II diabetes.
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Important Takeaways:
- Inflation forcing Americans to spend $709 more per month than 2 years ago: Economist
- Scorching-hot inflation has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent.
- Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi made the statement Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, as part of his analysis of July’s consumer price index report. Despite the jarring increase in cost, Zandi say inflation is moderating, with just a 0.2% increase from June to July.
- “To be sure, the high inflation of the past 2+ years has done lots of economic damage. Due to the high inflation, the typical household spent $202 more in a July than they did a year ago to buy the same goods and services. And they spent $709 more than they did 2 years ago,” Zandi wrote.
- The fed could resort to further interest rate hikes later this year, but Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has not made any announcements.
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Important Takeaways:
- 61% of Americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck even as inflation cools
- Lower-income workers have been the hardest hit by price spikes, particularly for food and other staples, since those expenses account for a bigger share of the budget, studies show. Roughly three-quarters of consumers earning less than $50,000 annually and 65% of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 were living paycheck to paycheck in June, based on LendingClub’s numbers.
- Fewer top earners have been struggling to make ends meet. Of those earning $100,000 or more, only 45% reported living paycheck to paycheck, the report found.
- A majority, or 52%, of adults, including high earners, said they have felt more financially stressed since before the Covid pandemic began in 2020, according to a separate CNBC Your Money Financial Confidence Survey conducted in March — largely due to inflation, rising interest rates and a lack of savings.
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Revelations 13:16-18 “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
Important Takeaways:
- As food prices rise in June, analysts warn of a ‘tipping point’ for Americans
- Grocery prices were 5.7% higher in June compared to a year ago, and dining out was 7.7% more expensive
- “Overall, there continues to be a similar narrative of extended upward pressure on food prices as we try to discern whether this stress has led to a tipping point where consumers are struggling to buy the foods that they want,” said Jayson Lusk, the head and distinguished professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.
- Reported food insecurity across households of different income levels reached 17% in June, the highest level since March 2022, according to the monthly Consumer Food Insights Report from Purdue University. Although it didn’t deviate too much from the normal range — food insecurity hovered at 14% two months ago — Lusk said the increase is concerning given the amount of pressure on more financially vulnerable consumers.
- Around 47% of low-income households — those earning less than $50,000 a year — said they relied on SNAP benefits in May, up from roughly 40% in February, according to a recent Morning Consult report
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