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<\/a>How bad do things have to get before people start realizing that we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis?\u00a0 The \u201cexperts\u201d on television are endlessly debating about whether or not we are going to have a \u201crecession\u201d this year, and meanwhile economic activity is imploding all around us.\u00a0 The number of homes being sold in this country each month has already fallen by a third.\u00a0 The number of job cuts in November was\u00a0417 percent higher<\/a>\u00a0than it was during the same month a year earlier, and at this point even Amazon is laying off thousands of workers.\u00a0 The Federal Reserve has declared war on inflation, but prices continue to spiral out of control.\u00a0 In fact, vegetables are\u00a080 percent<\/a>\u00a0more expensive now than they were 12 months ago.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the financial markets continue to plunge.\u00a0 A third of the value of the Nasdaq has already been wiped out, and more than two-thirds of the value of all cryptocurrencies is already gone.<\/p>\nAfter everything that has already transpired, everyone should be able to clearly understand what is happening.<\/p>\n
So many people have been waiting for an economic nightmare to come, but the truth is that it is already here.<\/p>\n
The following are 11 signs that the economic \u201ctipping point\u201d that everyone has been waiting for has now arrived\u2026<\/p>\n
#1<\/strong>\u00a0U.S. manufacturing is declining at the fastest pace that we have seen\u00a0since the early days of the COVID pandemic<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers\u2019 Index (PMI) fell at the fastest rate since May 2020 in December, a continuing sign that the manufacturing sector is on the decline, S&P Global reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n The U.S. Manufacturing PMI posted a 46.2 in December, down from 47.7 in November and solidly below 50, which signals that the sector is contracting, according to S&P Global. Production levels contracted in back-to-back months, with new sales plummeting at the end of December at the fastest pace since 2007, as companies cited weakening demand amid \u201ceconomic uncertainty\u201d and inflation weighing on customers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #2<\/strong>\u00a0U.S. services PMI has now fallen\u00a0for sixth months in a row<\/a>.<\/p>\n #3<\/strong>\u00a0We just witnessed the largest one day drop in the Baltic Dry Index\u00a0since 1984<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The Baltic Exchange\u2019s dry bulk sea freight index crashed on Tuesday in the worst decline on record, sinking on prospects of a global recession.<\/p>\n Baltic Dry Good Index is a measure of global shipping and economic health. The overall index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels carrying dry bulk commodities, plunged 17.5% to $1,250, the most significant daily decline since 1984.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #4<\/strong>\u00a0Thanks to rapidly falling imports, we just witnessed the largest monthly decline in the trade deficit\u00a0since the last financial crisis<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n According to the BEA, the November trade deficit narrowed to $61.5b from $77.8b in prior month, coming in below the median estimate of $63.0BN (and just barely missing the top end of the range of $61.3BN to $80.5BN from 42 economists).<\/p>\n Remarkably, the 20% one-month decline in the deficit was the single biggest drop in the US trade deficit on a percentage basis going back to the global financial crisis!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #5<\/strong>\u00a0In 2022, U.S. auto sales were the lowest that we have seen for a full year\u00a0in more than a decade<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Industrywide, U.S. auto sales totaled 13.7 million vehicles in 2022, the lowest figure since 2011 and an 8% decrease from the prior year, according to the research firm Wards Intelligence. Sales had topped 17 million vehicles for five straight years before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, unleashing supply-chain problems that have bogged down deliveries ever since.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #6<\/strong>\u00a0The average rate on a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage\u00a0is more than twice as high<\/a>\u00a0as it was this time last year\u2026<\/p>\n Mortgage rates inched up again last week, after a slight increase the week before interrupted six straight weeks of falling rates.<\/p>\n The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.48% in the week ending January 5, up from 6.42% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate was 3.22%.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #7<\/strong>\u00a0According\u00a0to CNN<\/a>, sales of apartments in Manhattan were 28.5 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2022 than they were in the fourth quarter of 2021\u2026<\/p>\n Higher rates and still-high housing prices cooled demand at the end of last year, causing sales to tumble. Sales dropped 28.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #8<\/strong>\u00a0Overall, existing home sales in the United States have fallen for\u00a010 months in a row<\/a>\u00a0and are now down\u00a0by more than a third<\/a>\u00a0since January 2022.<\/p>\n #9<\/strong>\u00a0Bed Bath & Beyond is warning that the company is literally\u00a0on the verge of declaring bankruptcy<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Bed Bath & Beyond warned Thursday it\u2019s running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy.<\/p>\n The retailer, citing worse-than-expected sales, issued a \u201cgoing concern\u201d warning that in the upcoming months it likely will not have the cash to cover expenses, such as lease agreements or payments to suppliers. Bed Bath said it is exploring financial options, such as restructuring, seeking additional capital or selling assets, in addition to a potential bankruptcy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #10<\/strong>\u00a0It is being reported that Amazon has decided to lay off\u00a0approximately 18,000 employees<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Amazon.com Inc. is laying off more than 18,000 employees \u2014 the biggest reduction in its history \u2014 in the latest sign that a tech-industry slump is deepening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n #11<\/strong>\u00a0Overall, the tech industry has already laid off\u00a0more than 150,000 workers<\/a>\u00a0over the last year.<\/p>\n Many more American workers will lose their jobs as economic activity slows down even more throughout 2023.<\/p>\n So if you currently have a good job that you value, try to cling to it as hard as you can.<\/p>\n