American consumers, once bulwark of economy, are rapidly losing confidence

After years of riding high, American consumer confidence dropped rapidly in March in another warning sign of how punishing the coronavirus pandemic may become for the U.S. economy, according to a closely followed survey released Friday.

Consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan’s monthly survey, saw its sharpest drop since October 2008 during the Great Recession.

And even then, analysts said, the current decline significantly understated the coronavirus toll as two-thirds of the survey interviews were conducted before lock-down and physical distancing orders in mid-March shut down hundreds of thousands of shops, restaurants, offices and other large parts of the American economy.

“The economics of fear are now in plain sight,” said Oxford Economics, a British economic research firm, noting that the pandemic “is dealing a major blow to confidence that will lead to a sharp retrenchment in consumer spending “

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/american-consumers-once-bulwark-of-economy-are-rapidly-losing-confidence/ar-BB11Oef5?li=BBnb7Kz