This article was originally published by Micahel Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog.
We live at a time when the pace of change is so rapid that it can be overwhelming at times. Â More change occurs in a single month than happened during most entire years when I was growing up. Â When I pull up the news each day, there is always a fresh serving of chaos awaiting me.
Unfortunately, chaos is not good for the economy.  The U.S. dollar is in the process of dying, debt levels are exploding all around us, more mass layoffs have been announced within the past 24 hours, and the cost-of-living crisis is absolutely crushing most Americans.  Those who can look at the information that I am about to share with you and say âeverything is fineâ are simply not being rational.  The following are 12 signposts that indicate that a monumental economic meltdown is now upon usâŚ
#1 Consumer confidence just fell to the lowest level that we have seen in 12 yearsâŚ
Americaâs economic mood deteriorated in January to its lowest level in more than a decade as consumers fretted about geopolitical tensions, affordability and President Donald Trumpâs unrelenting trade war.
The Conference Boardâs Consumer Confidence Index for January, released Tuesday, declined 9.7 points to a reading of 84.5, the lowest since 2014, surpassing the lows of last year when Trump unveiled stiff tariffs and the depths of the pandemic recession in 2020.
Januaryâs reading came in much lower than the 91.1 reading economists projected in a poll by data firm FactSet.
#2 One recent survey discovered that 56 percent of U.S. workers are experiencing serious financial strainâŚ
Social media is rife with tearful videos of how hard it has become to make ends meet. Some 14% of workers canât or struggle to pay their bills each month, PwC found. Another 42% pay their bills with little or nothing left over for savings. PwC says thatâs more than half of the workforce experiencing financial strain in 2025.
âI have to work 40 hours a week just so I can have a place to live,â one woman said in one Instagram post. âForty hours a week makes me $2000 a month and my rent is $1,660. So I work 40 hours a week so I can have a two-bedroom apartment and an extra $300 a month. Like, that doesnât even cover my phone, internet, food.â
#3 According to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, the percentage of the U.S. workforce that is âfunctionally unemployedâ has risen to a whopping 25.2 percentâŚ
Employment researchers are warning that the share of Americans who are only loosely attached to the labor force is on the rise, and that the true rate of unemployment may be far higher than official figures suggest.
According to a new report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), 25.2 percent of the U.S. workforce could now be classified as âfunctionally unemployedââmeaning jobless, seeking but unable to secure full-time employment or earning âpoverty-level wages.â
#4 It is being reported that 1,500 HR employees that work for Amazon are facing the axeâŚ
Amazon is expected to cut more jobs within its human resources team by a significant margin.
According to Fortune, the e-commerce giant is preparing to lay off approximately 15% of its HR department â equivalent to around 1,500 of the 10,000 HR employees. It is currently unknown when the layoffs will take place, and how many jobs in the Puget Sound region are at risk.
#5 At one time, Pinterest was flying high.  But now harder times are here and it intends to fire close to 15 percent of its entire workforceâŚ
Pinterest said Tuesday it plans to lay off less than 15% of its workforce and cut back on office space as the company embraces artificial intelligence.
In a securities filing, Pinterest said it expects the cuts will be complete by the end of its third quarter in late September. Shares of Pinterest slid more than 9%.
#6 Nike just announced that it will be eliminating 775 jobsâŚ
Nike is planning to cut nearly 800 jobs amid an automation push at the footwear and apparel giantâs distribution centers.
The company is cutting 775 jobs that will primarily impact jobs at the retailerâs distribution centers in Tennessee and Mississippi as the company looks to automate more of its supply chain. The news was first reported by CNBC, citing people familiar with the matter.
#7 Not to be outdone by any of the companies mentioned above, UPS plans to throw up to 30,000 employees into the streets this yearâŚ
United Parcel Service plans to cut up to 30,000 workers this year as it moves to cut costs, the delivery giantâs chief financial officer said Tuesday.
âIn terms of semi-variable costs, we expect to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000,â UPS CFO Brian Dykes said during a company earnings call. âThis will be accomplished through attrition, and we expect to offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers.â
#8 The Washington Post is preparing for âbig layoffsâ, and that could include the entire sports departmentâŚ
The Washington Post has been around for nearly 150 years and had a sports section for almost as long. But after years and years of declining revenue, it appears that big layoffs are coming â and the sports section could be gutted hardest of all.
According to Dylan Byers of Puck, âmassive layoffsâ are set to hit The Washington Post in the days to come with the foreign desk being hit hard. However, Byers noted that the sports desk is rumored to be getting âshuttered entirely.â
#9 The largest mall in San Francisco has been permanently closed even sooner than expectedâŚ
San Franciscoâs beleaguered Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping mall closed its doors earlier than expected.
The cityâs largest mall, which saw a string of retailers leave in recent months, closed on Saturday, two days ahead of schedule, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A sign reading âclosed until further noticeâ was posted at the front entrance of the once-bustling shopping center, the outlet reported.
#10 Pending home sales in the United States just fell âto the lowest level for any December on recordââŚ
Pending home sales, which track the number of contracts signed in December, plunged by 9.3% seasonally adjusted from November, to the lowest level for any December on record in the data by the National Association of Realtors, which goes back to 2010. Compared to December 2010, during the Housing Bust, pending sales were down by 21.5%.
The market is now well into its fourth year of the collapse in transactions, and there has simply been no improvement.
#11 The U.S. dollar just declined for a fourth consecutive day, and it is now at the lowest level that we have seen in four monthsâŚ
The U.S. â dollar fell for a fourth straight day on Tuesday, slipping to a four-month low, as traders kept watch for possible coordinated currency intervention by U.S. and Japanese authorities and a âFederal Reserve interest rate decision.
#12 If someone tries to convince you that the U.S. dollar is not dying, just show them this chartâŚ
When the value of the U.S. dollar declines, the purchasing power of our money goes down.
Meanwhile, the price of silver is currently sitting at 110 dollars an ounce.
Many of us have been warning that all of this was coming, and now it is happening right in front of our eyes.
Our leaders have been making very bad decisions for decades, and now we are paying the price.
But if you think that things are bad now, just hold on tight, because things are going to get even more chaotic in the months ahead.
Michaelâs new book, entitled â10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next,â is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyderâs new book, entitled â10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next,â is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com, including âChaosâ, âEnd Timesâ, â7 Year Apocalypseâ, âLost Prophecies Of The Future Of Americaâ, âThe Beginning Of The Endâ, and âLiving A Life That Really Mattersâ. When you purchase any of Michaelâs books, you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream, and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: âFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.â If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
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