Consumer sentiment plunged on Monday amid tariff chaos
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Consumer confidence dropped precipitously on Monday, as Americans absorbed news on stock market plunges and sky-high tariffs.
Why it matters: The index, from Morning Consult, follows other data pointing to a growing negative vibe throughout the economy.
- Small-business optimism also just took its sharpest drop since 2020, per National Federation of Independent Business data out Tuesday.
Zoom out: Confidence peaked on January 21, after Pres. Trump took office, as Republicans were super-optimistic about the economy's prospects.
- Republicans are still broadly optimistic, per the data from Morning Consult. But among Democrats it's "approaching lows observed during the pandemic."
How it works: Morning Consult measures sentiment by asking people questions about both current economic conditions (good or bad?) and their expectations for the future ( better or worse?).
- They roll those results up into an index; any number more than 100 is positive.
By the numbers: Confidence fell to 90.6 on the index Monday — down five points from a week ago.
Caveat: This is one data point, and the stock market so far is rallying today.
