And October was a brutal month for job cuts.
Stocks were volatile on Friday, spurred in part by a report that showed consumer sentiment at its lowest level in three years.
The November edition of the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers revealed that the index is at the lowest level since June of 2022 when the economy faced high inflation, rising interest rates and a bear market..
Now, interest rates are falling, but consumers are more concerned about jobs, rising inflation, and the federal government shutdown, which is now the longest in history.
“With the federal government shutdown dragging on for over a month, consumers are now expressing worries about potential negative consequences for the economy,” Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said. “This month’s decline in sentiment was widespread throughout the population, seen across age, income, and political affiliation.”
The overall Index of Consumer Sentiment dropped to 50.3, from 53.6 in September. This is the lowest since it hit 50.0 in June 2022. Further, the 50.3 reading is the second lowest since the survey began in 1978. A year ago, in November, it was 71.8.
This follows the release of the Challenger Report on Thursday that said there were 153,074 job cuts in October, up 175% year-over-year and 183% from September. It was the most job cuts in October since 2003. This year, through October, there have been 1,099,500 job cuts, an increase of 65% compared to the same period last year. It is also the most job cuts since 2020 when 2,304,755 cuts were announced through October.
Low expectations
The overall Index of Consumer Sentiment is made up of two parts – the Index of Current Economic Conditions and the Index of Consumer Expectations.
The index of current economic conditions fell to 52.3, down from 58.6 in September and 563.9 last November. The score of 52.3 is the lowest ever recorded by the survey.
The index of consumer expectations was even worse, dropping to 49.0 from 50.3 last month and 76.9 a year ago. That matches what it was in May 2025 and is the lowest score since June 2022 when it hit an all-time low of 46.8.
Consumers also see inflation rising. The survey revealed that the inflation rate 12 months out inched up to 4.7% in November, from 4.6% last month. However, long-run inflation expectations declined to 3.6%, from 3.9% last month.
As of late afternoon Friday, the Nasdaq Composite was down about 165 points, or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 was off around 16 points, or 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was hovering around even for the day. The index had been lower earlier in the day, but improved somewhat as the day wore on.
The Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow were all on pace as of late Friday to be down for the week.
