For those who are pessimistic about the US economy, reality has repeatedly proven them wrong. This makes many people think that nothing can hinder the world’s number one economy. However, the turmoil in President Donald Trump’s first month in office is posing a test to the durability of the country’s economy. Economists often view confidence surveys and financial indicators as “soft” data, volatile, influenced by news, and often not an accurate forecast of actual economic activity. “Hard” data – including the labor market and economic output – generally still show that the US economy is growing relatively steadily. The decline in consumption in January may have partly stemmed from the cold weather in the South and the wildfire disaster in Los Angeles.

American Flag Trump 45 47 Make St Patrick’s Day Great Again Shirt

Besides, experts say that Mr. Trump may not implement all of his recent tariff threats. However, there is a sign of weakness in the hard data. That is, the number of initial unemployment benefit applications last week increased to 242,000, from 220,000 the previous week. Although this is not the highest number in the past 6 months, the number has increased dramatically in Washington, D.C. – about 4 times higher than the same period last year – is a testament to the impact of layoffs of civil servants and “austerity” of government contractors. In addition, the rapid changes in Mr. Trump’s policy decisions also caused a lot of instability and pressure on household and business spending.