Americans are feeling worse this month about their financial situations, as concerns about the job market appear to be seeping into how folks rate other parts of the economy.
Worries about the labor market started a few months ago and gained greater momentum this month, said Conference Board Senior Economist Stephanie Guichard. This could mean that consumer spending is going to slow in the next few months, but it's not going to collapse, and we aren’t on the path to a recession, Guichard said.
The unemployment rate has been over 4% for four straight months after riding a sub-4% streak of two straight years. The Conference Board asked people about their year-ahead inflation expectations. Americans expect inflation to be 5.2% a year from now, despite both major measures of inflation already dropping to 2.5%. That’s down from the consumer price index’s June 2022 peak of 9.1%.