Shortly before the start of the important Christmas business, US consumers are losing their courage. Their mood was surprisingly clouded in November, the corresponding barometer fell to 125.5 points from 126.1 meters in the previous month, as the research institute Conference Board announced. Actually, experts had expected an increase.
The US economy thrives above all on customers in their own country, so their well-being and woe influence the economy particularly strongly. Private consumption accounts for about 70 percent of US economic output. The high-selling consumption highlights are considered important milestones: Black Friday this week and the subsequent Cyber Monday, which heralds the start of the Christmas season. The consumer barometer is still relatively high, but the trend is alarming: it fell four months in a row by September.
Housing market weak
The prospects are also clouded by bullish news from the real estate market. In the US, according to the US Department of Commerce, the number of new homes sold in October fell by a surprising 0.7 percent compared to the previous month. Analysts had expected an average of 0.6 percent. However, the month-on-month reading has been revised up sharply, with September sales rising 4.5 percent, instead of the 0.7 percent drop originally announced.
For the politically pressured US President Donald Trump, the bad news comes at an inopportune time. After all, he had set himself up as the impeller of the economy. With tax cuts for domestic companies he had promised to boost the US economy, create more jobs and so did rising wages. They should not only bring additional growth, but even finance the declining revenues themselves.
However, it is already clear that Trump's promises are unstoppable. Much more than a blaze of fire, Trump could not ignite his "greatest reform of all time," as he called the project. Instead of a growth of targeted three to six percent, the US economy boggles at a plus of about two percent and the government deficit climbed to just under a trillion dollars.