Feeling the good vibes.
Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images North AmericaWe’re Finally Shaking Off Those ‘Vibecession’ Feelings
We can wave goodbye to the gloom that weighed on consumer confidence even when the data pointed to economic strength.
The “vibecession” that has confounded economists for the past two years is finally behind us.
Recent shifts in the economic data, financial markets and consumer confidence signal an end to what my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Kyla Scanlon identified in mid-2022 as a “vibe decline” or “vibecession” that was immune to the apparent resilience of the economy. I made my own effort a little later to talk about why consumers were feeling so lousy despite a boom in jobs growth, focusing on stagnating wages and high inflation. With another 16 months of perspective, it’s clear that those weren’t the only factors. Fortunately, all the main culprits are now trending in the right direction.