Consumer sentiment sank to a record low in April as weeks of U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran have impacted oil prices globally, a new University of Michigan survey found. Consumer confidence has dropped nearly 11 percent since March, a downward trend that started after the U.S. and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran on… Source link
The latest poll was conducted from Apr. 3 to Apr. 7, surveying more than 2,000 respondents each from Canada, U.K., France and Germany. It comes as transatlantic relations sour further over British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to support U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Starmer has allowed the use of British airbases for defensive purposes, but has continued to receive regular criticism from a president he was at pains to build links with. The latest numbers show nearly two thirds (65 percent) of British adults now think America tends to create problems for other countries, up from 46 percent in December. Just 22 percent now think the United States tends toward solving the problems of other nations, down from 35 percent late last year. More than half (57 percent) of Brits said America challenges its allies around the world — up from 41 percent in December — compared to just 27 percent who say the U.S. supports allies, down from 40 percent in December. Almost half (49 percent) of Brits now say the U.S. …
TOKYO, April 1 : Business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers improved in the three months to March, according to a closely watched survey released on Wednesday, a sign that increasing economic uncertainty from the Middle East conflict has yet to hit morale. But firms expect conditions to worsen in the next three months, the survey showed, as soaring fuel costs and supply disruptions from the Iran war cloud the global outlook and threaten to squeeze margins. The headline index measuring big manufacturers’ business confidence stood at +17 in March, the BOJ’s “tankan” survey showed, up from +16 in December. That compared with a median market forecast for a reading of +16. An index gauging sentiment among large non-manufacturers stood at +36 in March, unchanged from December. It compared with a median market forecast for +33. The survey was conducted between February 26 and March 31. Markets have been rattled since the Iran war effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil and gas flows, driving up crude oil …
A falling stock market and rising gasoline prices arising from the war against Iran sent consumer sentiment back to its lowest level since December, the University of Michigan said on Friday. The university’s consumer sentiment index dropped back to 53.3 from 55.5 in the final estimate for the month. The expectations index, a measure of future sentiment about the economy, fell to 51.7 from 56.6, a monthly drop of 8.7%. Sentiment fell across age groups and political affiliations. “Consumers with middle and higher incomes and stock wealth, buffeted by both escalating gas prices and volatile financial markets in the wake of the Iran conflict, exhibited particularly large drops in sentiment,” Joanne Hsu, surveys director, wrote in an analysis. “Overall, the short-run economic outlook plunged 14%, and year-ahead expected personal finances sank 10%, while declines in long-run expectations were more subdued. These patterns suggest that, at this time, consumers may not expect recent negative developments to persist far into the future.” Inflation expectations rose as prices for many necessities, such as electricity and food, continue to …
It is not easy to be an American Muslim today. At a time when the United States is engaged in yet another conflict involving a Muslim-majority country, rhetoric from a growing number of public figures, including some of our highest officials, continues to vilify Islam and cast suspicion on Muslims as disloyal or dangerous. Too often, national conversations about Islam proceed without Muslims at the table. Yet despite this, American Muslims remain committed to a few simple but powerful beliefs: that our faith makes us better citizens and that this country affords us the opportunity to practice our faith freely. The problem is not Islam, nor is it America, both of which are based on the foundational principles to uphold justice, dignity and the equality of all people. The problem lies in the political, ideological and economic forces that benefit from division. War, in particular, amplifies these distortions. It thrives on falsehoods: that Islam and the West are destined to clash, that Muslims are inherently disloyal and that domination and surveillance are necessary for security. …
The first-order effect of the U.S.-Iran conflict was widespread disruption across the Middle East. The second-order effect was an energy price shock that drove gasoline and diesel prices at the pump sharply higher. The third-order effect could be a deterioration in consumer sentiment amid higher energy costs, rising inflation fears, and broader economic/geopolitical uncertainty. The transmission of the energy shock to consumers appears to have materialized just 12 days into Operation Epic Fury, according to executives at Volkswagen and Volvo Car, who report that consumer sentiment has already softened. “We are already seeing customer sentiment decline in many markets,” Volkswagen Head of Sales Martin Sander told an industry event in London earlier on Thursday. “Consumers were already facing a great deal of uncertainty, and this is now, of course, adding another layer of anxiety.” Volvo’s UK managing director, Nicole Melillo Shaw, told the audience that economic uncertainty may soon weigh on consumer sentiment enough for households to begin pulling back on big-ticket purchases. “If I don’t need to and I’ve got other considerations around the …
(RNS) — A day after Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., said on social media that Muslims don’t belong in America, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that although he questioned Ogles’ choice of words, he pointed to a widely shared sentiment among Americans. “Muslims don’t belong in American Society. Pluralism is a lie,” Ogles posted on his X account on Monday (March 9). Johnson told reporters at a congressional retreat in Doral, Florida, on Tuesday that he spoke about Ogles’ remarks with members of Congress and discussed what language they should use on the issue. Ogles’ selection of words, he said, is “a different language than I would use.” Still, Johnson said he believes his comments resonated with many Americans who view Islam as incompatible with American culture. “There’s a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Shariah law in America is a serious problem,” Johnson said. “I think that’s a serious issue. Shariah law and the imposition of Shariah law is contrary to the U.S. …
Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech This is one PR hit that’ll be hard to come back from. After OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a new deal with the Department of Defense last week, droves of once-loyal users vowed that they’d ditch ChatGPT. And now, new data reported by TechCrunch shows that those outraged users weren’t making empty threats. On Saturday, uninstalls of the ChatGPT mobile app skyrocked by 295 percent from the day before, according to market intelligence provider Sensor Tower. As TC noted, that’s a significant leap compared to the AI chatbot’s typical day-over-day uninstall rate of nine percent over the past 30 days. Many of them appear to be jumping ship to Anthropic’s Claude. Anthropic, unlike OpenAI, had refused to cut a deal with a deeply unpopular administration to give the military unrestricted access to its AI tech. In particular, Anthropic demanded that its AI wouldn’t be used in autonomous weapons systems or in the mass surveillance of US citizens. Even …
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, Economic growth metrics for the United States have recently shown surprising resilience; however, consumers’ economic sentiment has not. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s advance estimate, real Gross Domestic Product expanded at an annualized rate of just 1.4%, well below expectations and a steep drop from the 4.4% pace in the third quarter. However, the record-long federal government shutdown, which ran from October 1 through November 12, subtracted roughly 1 full percentage point from growth, as federal outlays plunged 16.6%. Stripping out that self-inflicted drag, underlying growth was closer to 2.4%, a pace more consistent with a healthy expansion. Consumer expenditures rose 2.4%, moderating from the third quarter’s 3.5% but still solid, while business investment climbed a healthy 3.8%, powered by the ongoing AI-driven capital spending boom. With the government now reopened, the shutdown’s drag is expected to reverse in early 2026, providing a tailwind to first-quarter growth. Notably, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the total output of goods and services in the U.S. Of that total, personal …
Yesterday it was the salsa class. Coming up is the panto. On other days, it may be anything from language lessons to arts and crafts. Today in this multipurpose venue, it is the turn of the annual Christmas fair, with its bric-a-brac stalls, grotto and tree. Sitting on four sides of the elegant ballroom in Chadderton town hall, a refuge for Oldham Coliseum during renovations, we require no leap of the imagination to picture ourselves at a genuine local fundraiser. That gives Jim Cartwright’s 2012 play a built-in sense of community. Director Jimmy Fairhurst keeps the house lights up, save for the most poignant speeches, and expects us to clap along to the Christmas hits and cheer the young carol singers as if they were children of our own. Blurring the fact/fiction divide, the interval is less a break in the action than a chance to buy the scented candles and prints by Oldham artists that are otherwise part of the set. Pleasing materiality … Gordon-Harrison as Lucy with Paddy Stafford as Johnny, staffing the …
