11 Signs That The Economic “Tipping Point” That Everyone’s Been Waiting for Has Arrived
The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Michael Snyder
Economic activity is imploding. Home sales have fallen; job cuts are higher than a year ago; the Fed is fighting inflation, but prices continue to spiral out of control; financial markets and cryptocurrencies continue to plunge.
Here are 11 signs that the economic tipping point has arrived:
1. US manufacturing is declining at the fastest pace since the early days of the Covid pandemic.
2. US services PMI has now fallen for six months in a row.
3. There has just been the largest one-day drop in the Baltic Dry Index since 1984.
4. There has just been the largest monthly decline in the trade deficit since the last financial crisis.
5. In 2022, US auto sales were the lowest that we have seen for a full year in more than a decade.
6. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is more than twice as high as it was this time last year.
7. Sales of condos in Manhattan were 28.5% lower in the 4th quarter of 2022 as they were in the 4th quarter of 2021.
8. Overall, existing home sales have fallen for 10 months in a row and are now down by more than a third in a year.
9. Bed Bath and Beyond is running out of cash and considering bankruptcy.
10. Amazon has decided to lay off approximately 18,000 employees.
11. Overall, the tech industry has already laid off more than 150,000 workers over the last year.
Many more will lose their jobs as the economy slows. Leaders were able to keep things afloat by flooding the system with money, but now they have lost control. Disaster looms, but many don’t understand what is taking place. Most assume that those in authority know what they are doing, and that a return to normal is inevitable.
Snyder wishes that was true, because the ride into the economic abyss is not going to be fun.