Americans sour on US economy and anxiety over tariffs remains the chief culprit

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Americans sour on US economy and anxiety over tariffs remains the chief culprit

2025-06-25 00:52 Last Updated At：01:01

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ view of the U.S. economy worsened in June, resuming a downward slide that had dragged consumer confidence to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slid to 93 in June, down 5.4 points from 98.4 last month, which represented a brief uptick.

The regression surprised economists, who had expected a small uptick this month.

In April, American consumers’ confidence in the economy sank to its lowest reading since May 2020, largely due to anxiety over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell 4.6 points to 69. That’s well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead.

Consumers’ assessments of the present economic situation declined by 6.4 points to 129.1.

Tariffs and the impact they could have on personal finances remained at the top of respondents’ minds, the Conference Board said.

Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies — including massive import taxes — have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market, raising fears that the American economy is headed toward a recession.

Consumers' fears of a recession during the next 12 months rose slightly in June and remain elevated, according to the survey results.

The Conference Board said that the three components of the expectations Index — business conditions, job prospects, and future income — all weakened.

It was the sixth straight month that respondents' views of the job market deteriorated, though the reading remains in positive territory as the U.S. labor market continues to churn out jobs.

The Labor Department earlier this month reported that U.S. employers slowed hiring in May, but still added a solid 139,000 jobs amid uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs. Unemployment remains historically low at 4.2%.

Though concerns about inflation ticked down slightly in June, it remains a major concern among respondents, who frequently mentioned higher prices in tandem with tariffs.

A government report earlier this month showed that consumer prices ticked up in May to 2.4% from a 2.3% year-over-year increase in April. Core prices, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, rose 2.8% for the third straight month. Economists pay close attention to core prices because they generally provide a better indication of where inflation is headed.

The Board said respondents' references to geopolitics and social unrest increased slightly from previous months, but are still significantly lower on the list of consumers' concerns.

The deadline for survey responses was June 18, before the U.S. targeted Iranian nuclear sites but after Israel's bombing of Tehran.

Hong Kong rings in 2026 without fireworks after deadliest blaze in decades

HONG KONG (AP) — Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong's New Year celebrations. Not this year.

The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.

Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.

The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.

Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.

Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.

The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.

The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.