With geopolitical and trade tensions rising, the global economy is slowing down. And the latest numbers from China indicate the slowdown is far more advanced than was previously believed, according to The Economic Collapse.
The big indicator is China, and when imports and exports both are expanding, it’s a sign that the global economy is chugging along. But when both are contracting, that is an indication of big trouble ahead. China accounts for more total global trade than even the U.S., and numbers for the global economy’s top trader falling dramatically is a major warning sign.
Data from China showed imports fell 7.6 percent year-on-year in December while analysts had predicted a 5-percent rise. Exports dropped 4.4 percent, confounding expectations for a 3-percent gain.
And it’s not just China that’s feeling the pressure of a slowdown.
Adding to the gloom were weak industrial output numbers from the euro zone, which showed the largest fall in nearly three years.
Softening demand has been felt around the world, with sales of goods ranging from iPhones to automobiles slowing, prompting profit warnings from Apple among others.
These are exactly the types of numbers one should expect to see before a major global recession, and things are reportedly faring poorly in the U.S. as well.
Sales of newly built homes fell 18 percent in December compared with December of 2017, according to data compiled by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, a California-based housing research and analytics firm.
Due to the partial government shutdown, official government figures on home sales for November and December have not been released.
Sales were also down a steep 19 percent annually in November, according to JBRC’s analysts.
Those figures are reminiscent of the housing bubble crisis in 2008.
And we also just learned that employers are cutting back on hiring new college grads for the first time in eight years…
A new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shows that for the first time in eight years, managers are pulling back the reins on hiring college grads, with a projected 1.3 percent decrease from last year. Additionally, a survey from Monster.com found that of 350 college students polled, 75 percent don’t have a job lined up yet.