As Consumer Confidence Falls Most In 47 Years, Kevin Hassett Appeals To ‘God’ For Recovery
Consumer confidence fell off a cliff in April.
And by that, I mean The Conference Board’s gauge dropped 31.9 points from March, the most in 47 years. The index now sits at 86.9. This is one time when consensus was bang-on. The estimate was 87 (the forecast range was 65-103).
Remember, last month witnessed a steep drop too. After two months, February's print isn't even visible from down here.
The Present Situation Index fell the most on record, suffering a comical 90-point decline to 76.4
this vector of thinking makes me nervous as I cannot tell if it is ignorance or wishful thinking – hope is never a sound strategy, “… reflects a similar disparity in the University of Michigan’s sentiment gauges, and continues to suggest that Americans view the coronavirus crisis as cyclical, not systemic.” obviously, I believe that the changes it brings about will be systemic
My wife works in medical manufacturing for heart implants and is being put on reduced hours for lack of demand. I think that says a lot… pacemakers and defibrillators are hardly optional yet demand is down and there will not be surge capability to make up the shortfall if things do pickup. Along with meat and produce I’m not sure if we won’t also see shortages of supplies in many vital industries coming out of this. Potentially prolonged ones as the supply chain from top to bottom will be downsized.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928797
20% of medical practices have layoffs.
Calh0025, thanks for the insight. It’s helpful to hear real, firsthand accounts of what’s going on in different industries.
And I guess you could say that 58,000 mostly seniors with medical pre-conditions dying will also start to impinge on the need for some medical personnel and equipment. Sadly.