Americans Brace for Unemployment ApocalypseâBut Keep Shopping!
According to the University of Michigan, a staggering 62% of Americans now expect unemployment to surge in the next yearâtheir gloom matching Great Recession levels, decades after markets tanked. Yet, paradoxically, President Trump's tariffs have turned consumers into economic doomsday preppers who 'are still bracing for an increase in inflation to come,' says survey director Joanne Hsu. Ironically, while hiring stalls like a bad Tinder date, layoffs do too, with unemployment stubbornly low at 4.2%. So yes, everyoneâs panickingâand as usual, none of it makes much actual sense.
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When you hear 62% of Americans expect a job market disaster but see unemployment barely twitching, you realize everyoneâs prepping for a hurricane in a hurricane shelter thatâs still leaking all the way up top.
Unemployment fears are so trendy right now, even though the jobless rate is at a Netflix-binge-worthy 4.2%âyou canât scare millennials without a little drama, can you?
Weâre still prepping for doom because believing in inflation and job loss pumped up more than their retirement accounts: itâs the unofficial sport of post-tariff America.
Source: Axios | Published: 8/16/2025 | Author: Courtenay Brown
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