Consumers are feeling uneasy about the economy aꦆs many a🤪re shifting their focus to tariffs, inflation and politics.

Consumer confidence registered the largest monthly decline in more than three years, with The Conference Board survey falling seven points to 98.3 in February, dropping further than economists expected. The decline follows similar results 🔯from the Michigan Survey of Consumers released last Friday, with each report helping send stocks lower as investors worry that spending will slow.

Inflation remained a top concern in the survey, with consumers raising their year-ahead inflation expectations to 6%. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体🍌彩网:ꦡPolicy proposals from President Donald Trump weighed on the survey results. 

“There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at The Conference Board, referencing tariff proposals in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Trump’s first term. “Most notably, comments on the current administration and its po𒈔licies dominated the responses.”

Economists believe that tariffs could increase costs for households as merchants pass on the increased import taxes to consumers. Some said the tariff threats could be especially importan⛎t to consumers who have still not recovered from the spike i🦂n prices caused by COVID-related supply chain issues.

“We suspect that many consumers still have unhealed scar tissue from the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:price spikes of recent years and as a result have become skittish about potential signs of inflation heating back up,” wrote Wells Fargo economists Tim Quinlan and Jeremiah Kohl. “Tariff worries are rattling consumers' cages in a way that they perhaps did not in the current President's first term.”