Trump financial system nonetheless has one key believer: Teenagers

Regardless of financial uncertainty on the rise as Trump tariff discuss morphed into actuality, teenagers seem like taking issues in stride.

About 57% of US teenagers surveyed in Piper Sandler’s carefully watched “Taking Inventory” spring analysis report mentioned the financial system was getting worse, down from 67% within the fall of 2024 and 65% final spring. The report — launched on Wednesday — confirmed that 19% suppose the US financial system is getting higher, up from 10% final fall and 11% final spring.

Teen spending elevated 6% to $2,388 on an annualized foundation, with round 40% going towards meals and clothes, the survey discovered. A few of their prime retail manufacturers skew to costlier gadgets: Nike (NKE) Jordan sneakers, Ugg boots from Decker’s Out of doors (DECK), and Lululemon (LULU) leggings.

Whether or not this teenage optimism persists is in query as their dad and mom are doubtless smack in the midst of coping with falling inventory costs and prospects for a lot greater costs as tariffs penetrate provide chains.

Learn extra: What Trump’s tariffs imply for the financial system and your pockets

The survey could not but mirror these recent financial challenges households at the moment are dealing with.

Piper Sandler surveyed 6,455 teenagers, with a median age of 16.2, from Feb. 10 to March 24, simply earlier than April’s tariff-induced inventory market earthquake.

The Dow Jones Industrial Common (^DJI), Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), and S&P 500 (^GSPC) are all down about 10% from March 31 to April 8. Momentum shares which have minted cash for a lot of buyers over the previous two years are down much more this month —with Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) down 12% and 21%, respectively.

Shares are reacting to bruising new tariffs from the Trump administration.

Trump’s 104% tariffs on China kicked in on Wednesday, igniting the beginning of a full-on commerce struggle with an vital buying and selling associate.

Reciprocal tariffs on the European Union, Japan, and roughly 60 different international locations additionally kicked in as we speak, following a sweeping 10% tariff that set in final weekend.

Learn extra: The newest information and updates on Trump’s tariffs

Indicators on the well being of the US financial system have begun to weaken past the strain on the inventory market.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast for the primary quarter implies a 2.8% decline in gross home product (GDP).

Knowledge from Apollo International chief economist Torsten Sløk this week highlighted rising weekly company bankruptcies, softening movie show visits, weaker job posting numbers by corporations, and rising persevering with unemployment claims.

In the meantime, many economists on Wall Avenue proceed to ratchet up their recession chance forecasts for 2025.