10 Economic Facts That Are Hard To Ignore
By Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog July 24, 2025
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If you ask 1,000 different Americans about the state of the U.S. economy, you will get 1,000 different opinions. But what is the truth?
In this article, I am going to share information with you that is indisputable. I like to examine things from an analytical point of view, and so I always want to know what the cold, hard numbers are telling me. And what the cold, hard numbers are telling me is very troubling.
The following are 10 economic facts that nobody can deny...
#1 The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators fell more than expected last month, and during the entire first half of 2025 it declined at an even faster rate than it did during the second half of 2024...
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index(r) (LEI) for the US declined by 0.3% in June 2025 to 98.8 (2016=100), after no change in May (revised upward from -0.1% originally reported). As a result, the LEI fell by 2.8% over the first half of 2025, a substantially faster rate of decline than the -1.3% contraction over the second half of 2024.
"The US LEI fell further in June," said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board. "For a second month in a row, the stock price rally was the main support of the LEI. But this was not enough to offset still very low consumer expectations, weak new orders in manufacturing, and a third consecutive month of rising initial claims for unemployment insurance.
#2 We just learned that sales of previously-owned homes have fallen to their lowest level in nine months...
Sales of previously-owned homes in the United States hit their lowest rate in nine months, according to industry data released Wednesday, as high home prices and mortgage rates weighed on the market.
Existing home sales dropped by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9 million, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
#3 It is being reported that millions of Americans that are on existing health insurance plans will be hit with "double-digit rate hikes" next year...
Consumers who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will likely face double-digit rate hikes next year.
Insurers plan a median premium increase of 15% for 2026 plans, which would be the largest ACA insurance price hike since 2018, according to a Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analysis published on July 18.
And many working-age consumers who get their health insurance through the workplace won't be spared, either. Benefits consultant Mercer said more than half of big employers expect to shift a larger share of insurance costs to employees and their families next year by raising deductibles, copays, or out-of-pocket requirements.
#4 The price of beef in the United States has risen 9 percent since January...
First it was eggs, now it's beef.
The last time Americans likely noticed spiking prices at the grocery store was when eggs reached record-highs. Since then, egg prices have fallen after the deadly avian flu outbreak was contained and producers built back supply.
Now, beef prices are hitting records, rising almost 9% since January, according to the Department of Agriculture, and retailing for $9.26 a pound. June's consumer price index showed steak and ground beef prices are up 12.4% and 10.3%, respectively, over the last year.
#5 More Americans than ever are using "buy now, pay later" loans to pay for groceries...
25% of BNPL users say they've used the loans to buy groceries. That's up from 14% just a year ago, amid rising prices at the supermarket. One-third of Gen Z BNPL users say they've done so, making it the fourth-most common BNPL purchase for that age group, trailing clothing, technology and home decor.
#6 The official rate of inflation just increased at the fastest pace that we have seen in 5 months...
Consumer prices in June posted the biggest increase since the beginning of the year and are likely to keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates later this month, but there were only scattered signs of tariff-related inflation.
The consumer-price index rose 0.3% last month, the government said Tuesday, and matched Wall Street's forecast. It was the biggest rise since January.
#7 A recent survey found that 23 percent of Americans have decided to delay retirement. That figure is up from 14 percent last year...
Older Americans are kicking the can down the road on retirement over concerns about the economy and their own financial readiness to step back from work.
That's according to a new survey from F&G Annuities & Life, which polled 2,000 U.S. adults over 50 years old. The life insurance and annuities company found that 23% of those polled have already decided to delay their retirement as they grapple with questions about their financial readiness, up from 14% in 2024.
The findings come at a time when the median savings of 55-year-olds is just $50,000, far from enough to fund a secure old age, according to another recent study by Prudential Financial.
#8 According to another recent survey, nearly 70 percent of Americans are feeling "anxiety and depression" because of the state of their finances...
Americans are feeling increasingly uneasy about their financial future.
Nearly 7 in 10 (69%) say financial uncertainty has led them to feelings of anxiety and depression, according to a recent survey from Northwest Mutual -- an 8-percentage-point increase from 2023.
#9 The percentage of the U.S. population that is dealing with food insecurity has almost doubled over the past four years...
In May, 15.6% of adults were food insecure, almost double the rate in 2021. At that time Congress had beefed up SNAP benefits and expanded the Child Tax Credit driving down poverty rates, and giving people more money for food.
#10 Freight-related companies all over the country are conducting mass layoffs...
Another wave of closures and layoffs has hit workers and companies tied to commercial transportation, manufacturing, lumber production, distribution and logistics across the U.S.
Over the past several weeks, there have been 4,137 job cuts announced, according to media reports and Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices.
This would not be happening if the U.S. economy was in good shape.
When the economy is strong, lots of stuff is being shipped all over the place.
Sadly, a lot more layoffs are on the horizon.
In addition to facing another major economic downturn, we have also entered the "AI revolution".
According to author Robert Kiyosaki, AI is going to "cause massive unemployment"...
Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has a sobering take on one of today's hottest trends: artificial intelligence (AI).
"BIGGEST CHANGE in MODERN HISTORY," he declared in an X post on July 1. "AI will cause many 'smart students' to lose their jobs. AI will cause massive unemployment. Many still have student loan debt."
Kiyosaki isn't alone in sounding the alarm. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic -- the AI company behind the large language model Claude -- recently warned that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and push the unemployment rate as high as 20%.
Thanks to AI and other technological advancements, our society is now in a period of exponential transformation.
Many would argue that many of the changes that we are witnessing are not for the better.
It is going to be very challenging to make good decisions in this environment, because many of the old rules no longer apply.
Originally published at The Economic Collapse Blog
