11 Signs That The U.S. Economy Is In The Worst Shape That It Has Been Since The Great Recession

Do you remember how bad things were in 2008 and 2009? It was an economic nightmare that shook the entire world, and now it appears that the sequel is upon us. As you will see below, many economic numbers are either as bad as they have been since the Great Recession or they are even worse than they were during the Great Recession. Despite what the mainstream media has been telling you, the truth is that the cold, hard facts prove that the U.S. economy has been rapidly heading in the wrong direction for years. Now we have reached a major tipping point, and it won’t take much to push us over the edge.

If you doubt what I am saying, just keep reading. The following are 11 signs that the U.S. economy is in the worst shape that it has been since the Great Recession…

#1 U.S. consumer sentiment just continues to move in the wrong direction. In fact, U.S. consumer sentiment just fell to the second lowest reading ever…

Worries over the government shutdown surged in the early part of November, pushing consumer sentiment to its lowest in more than three years and just off its worst level ever, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.

The university’s monthly Index of Consumer Sentiment posted a reading of 50.3 for the month, indicating a decline of 6.2% on the month and about 30% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 53.0 after October’s 53.6. Sentiment was last this low in June 2022 as inflation hovered around its highest level in 40 years. November’s reading was the second lowest going back to at least 1978.

#2 For years, U.S. consumers have been foolishly piling up enormous mountains of debt. Now the average U.S. credit score is falling at the fastest pace that we have seen since the Great Recession…

In another indication of a puttering economy, the average credit score in the U.S. has fallen by two points since this time last year.

The credit scoring firm FICO said Tuesday that the average credit score for all U.S. consumers is now 715, down from 717 logged in October 2024. According to separately released FICO data, the decline marks the first time since 2009 during the Great Recession that the average FICO score has fallen by two points within one year.

#3 The employment market has really tightened up all over the nation. If you are looking for a temporary job this holiday season, it is being projected that holiday hiring with be at the lowest level that we have seen since the Great Recession…

Holiday hiring by retailers is expected to total between 265,000 and 365,000 roles this year, the lowest number of seasonal workers in at least 15 years, the National Retail Federation said Thursday.

NRF CEO Matthew Shay said on the retail trade group’s conference call on that those hiring expectations “reflect the softening and slowing labor market.” It’s a significant drop from a year ago, when retailers hired 442,000 seasonal workers, the retail trade group said.

#4 As hiring has gotten tighter, layoffs are way up. In fact, we just witnessed the most layoffs in a single month during the fourth quarter since 2008…

The report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, showed 153,074 job cuts announced in October, an increase of 183% from cuts announced in September and up 175% from the same month in 2024.

“This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008,” Challenger said in a release. That year was a pivotal moment in the Great Recession, in which thousands of jobs were lost around the world and the global economy faced a period of contraction.

#5 The American people are not stupid. They can see what is going on, and they are now the most pessimistic about finding a job that they have been “since at least 2013”…

Americans now have the least confidence in finding a new job since at least 2013, a period also known as the depths of the “jobless recovery” following the Great Recession. According to the latest August 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations from the New York Federal Reserve, the perceived probability of securing a new job in case of job loss has dropped to 44.9%. That’s the lowest reading since the start of the series in June 2013. The decline was broad-based across age, education, and income groups, the New York Fed reported, “but it was most pronounced for those with at most a high school education.”

#6 Total household debt just hit another brand new record high. Not even during the Great Recession were we facing a crisis of this magnitude…

Total household debt climbed to a record $18.6 trillion last quarter, and while most borrowers remain on track with payments, young Americans are feeling the pressure.

#7 I have been warning that Americans have been getting behind on their debts. Now the percentage of outstanding balances that are seriously delinquent has risen to the highest level in more than a decade…

During the third quarter, 3 percent of outstanding balances became seriously delinquent — 90 days or more past due — the largest quarterly increase since 2014, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Among those ages 18 to 29, the rate was about 5 percent — more than double a year earlier and the highest of any age group.

#8 The cost of living crisis never seems to end. Aluminum prices are now increasing at an exponential rate, and that isn’t going to help matters at all…

Aluminum prices in the U.S. climbed to new record highs on Monday as domestic inventories tightened sharply, driven by the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs designed to bolster and revitalize America’s industrial base.

According to Bloomberg, the all-in U.S. aluminum price, combining the London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark and the U.S. Midwest delivery premium, hit a record high of $4,816 per ton, nearly double the level from the December 2023 lows.

#9 Have you noticed that restaurant chains are closing vast numbers of locations all over the nation? Wendy’s is the latest major chain to announce mass closures…

Fast food chain Wendy’s is planning to close hundreds more stores just a year after shuttering 140 locations.

Interim CEO Ken Cook told investors in a Friday, Nov. 7, quarterly earnings call that the company would be closing a “mid single-digit percentage” of locations. With around 6,000 locations still operating nationwide, this would amount to roughly 240 to 360 stores. One investor estimated the number at about 300 locations during the call. “When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective,” said Cook. “The goal is to address and fix those restaurants.”

#10 Manufacturing numbers often tell us where the economy is heading next. So the fact that U.S. manufacturing has fallen for eight months in a row is certainly not a good sign…

US manufacturing turned down in October on the PMI index, dropping from 49.1 in September to 48.7 in October, marking the eighth consecutive month of contraction. Price pressure may have eased (58 from 61.9), but production (48.2 from 51), inventory (45.8 from 47.7), and deliveries (54.2 from 52.6) have all declined.

Employment in the sector continued to decline (46 from 45.3), and 67% of panelist noted that companies are working on managing their current workforce rather than hiring.

#11 The tech industry has been one of the very few bright spots for the U.S. economy in 2025. But even our largest tech companies have been conducting absolutely brutal layoffs…

The scale of layoffs is unprecedented: by October, over 112,000 tech employees had been let go across 218 companies. Amazon alone confirmed 14,000 job cuts, citing the need to “reduce bureaucracy” and reallocate resources. The trend is driven by rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence, which are fundamentally changing the nature of tech work.

“It feels like companies are prioritizing efficiency over human capital,” said a recently laid-off engineer, echoing the concerns of many affected workers. The ripple effects extend beyond individual careers, impacting families and communities as local economies absorb the shock of sudden unemployment.

We were warned that economic conditions would deteriorate, and that is precisely what has happened.

But what we have been through so far is not even worth comparing to what is eventually coming.

It was a nice ride while it lasted.

In 2009, the federal government was 10 trillion dollars in debt, and now it is 38 trillion dollars in debt.

Meanwhile, state and local government debt, corporate debt and consumer debt have all soared into uncharted territory.

We have been on the greatest debt binge in human history, but what did we get for it?

We could have made much different choices, but instead we chose to literally destroy our future.

Now a time of reckoning is upon us, and it isn’t going to be fun.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.