11 Signs That US Consumers Are In Very Serious Trouble As We Head Into The Final Stretch Of 2023

U.S. consumers are getting weaker and weaker and weaker.  Today, debt levels have risen to unprecedented heights, but thanks to roaring inflation our standard of living has been steadily going down.  Most Americans are working extremely hard, but they have very little to show for it.  And now the latest economic downturn is really starting to bite.  Layoffs are starting to surge again, once thriving businesses are shutting down all over the nation, and hunger and homelessness are exploding.  If economic conditions continue to deteriorate at this pace, what will things look like a year from now?

For decades, we have been able to count on U.S. consumers to just keep spending money no matter what the economic outlook was, but now things have changed.

The following are 11 signs that U.S. consumers are in very serious trouble as we head into the final stretch of 2023…

#1 U.S. renters are spending 30 percent of their incomes just on rent…

Renters remained burdened in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2023 despite a slight improvement as insurance costs to landlords mounted, according to a new report by Moody’s Analytics.

Moody’s Analytics found that in Q3, the U.S. rent-to-income ratio (RTI) declined slightly by 0.5% and ended at 30%, a level that is the threshold for being rent-burdened. Renters are considered “burdened” if their rent payments consume 30% or more of their gross, or pre-tax, income. This comes after last year marked the first time that the median renter household in the U.S. paid over 30% of their income on an average-priced apartment when the national RTI reached a high of 30.8%.

#2 One food bank executive just told USA Today that she is seeing “the worst rate of hunger in my career” right now…

“This is the worst rate of hunger in my career,” said Morgan, who has worked at food banks in Boston, San Francisco and Anchorage, Alaska. “It’s so large, it’s hard to wrap your head around.”

#3 Wells Fargo just shut down 13 bank branches in a single week…

Six banks filed to close almost 40 branches last week leaving millions of Americans without access to vital financial services, with Wells Fargo alone axing 13 locations.

Wells Fargo has been a leader in the closure of branches around the country, having closed 160 in the first half of the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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