Prices are rising fast, and 70% of Americans say the economy is getting worse

U.S. business activity rebounded in April to a three-month high, but accelerating inflation across manufacturing and services is eroding consumer confidence and political support for the administration’s economic management. Institutional investors face a critical inflection point: persistent price pressures coupled with weakening demand signals suggest stagflation risks that could reshape asset allocation and central bank policy trajectories.

• Composite PMI reached 52.0 in April, a three-month high, signaling economic recovery after March slowdown.
• Manufacturing and services inflation hit 10-month and 45-month highs respectively, fastest pace since July 2022.
• 70% of Americans now say economy is worsening, up 15 percentage points from 55% one year ago.

• 52.0 U.S. composite PMI in April versus 51.2 in March
• 70% Americans believing economy is worsening versus 55% one year prior
• 54.0 Manufacturing PMI at 47-month high versus 51.3 in services

The U.S. economy posted mixed signals in April that complicate the outlook for institutional investors wagering on a soft landing scenario. The composite Purchasing Managers Index climbed to 52.0, the strongest reading in three months, suggesting businesses are expanding activity after March’s sluggish performance.

Yet beneath this surface recovery lies a more troubling narrative: price pressures are accelerating at the fastest pace since mid-2022, while underlying demand remains fragile and consumer confidence is collapsing across demographic and political lines.

The manufacturing sector presented the most visibly bullish headline. The manufacturing PMI surged to 54.0, marking its highest level in 47 months and well above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction. Economists initially tempted to read this as a sign of robust economic health, however, should examine the composition of that growth more carefully.

A substantial portion of the April manufacturing strength came not from end-consumer demand pulling goods through the supply chain, but from corporate purchasing driven by fear of future scarcity and rising costs.

Survey respondents explicitly cited “panic buying” and “emergency buying” behavior, language that signals anxiety rather than confidence in underlying economic fundamentals. Businesses are front-loading inventory ahead of anticipated price increases and potential supply chain disruptions, a defensive posture that temporarily inflates activity metrics without reflecting genuine consumer demand.

This distinction matters enormously to institutional investors because it means the reported expansion may not be sustainable if fear-driven restocking normalizes.

Manufacturing surge masks inventory hoarding as businesses brace for higher costs

The manufacturing rebound is narrower than headline PMI figures suggest. While the sector expanded, the growth was concentrated in companies racing to accumulate stock before prices climbed further or geopolitical disruptions worsened supply availability.

This inventory build creates a paradox: it temporarily boosts manufacturing output and reported business activity, but it also consumes working capital that companies might otherwise deploy toward wage increases, capital investment, or shareholder returns.

Supply chain pressures are real and worsening. Supplier delivery delays in April hit their worst level since August 2022, a ten-month low that signals bottlenecks are intensifying rather than resolving.

A portion of these delays stems from the very panic buying behavior that inflated manufacturing PMI. Companies purchasing excess inventory simultaneously starve other firms of available goods, creating artificial scarcity that compounds delivery times and pushes prices higher.

The result is a self-reinforcing cycle of cost inflation driven partly by rational business anxiety rather than demand fundamentals.

The inflation data underlying these supply and demand dynamics is unambiguous and troubling for rate-sensitive portfolios. Input costs rose at their fastest pace in 11 months. Manufacturing product prices hit a ten-month high.

The services sector, which accounts for roughly 80% of U.S. economic output, saw price increases reach a 45-month high. These figures arrive just as the Federal Reserve has signaled openness to rate cuts in the second half of 2024, creating a potential collision between Fed expectations and inflation reality.

Services sector stalls while price pressures accelerate to 45-month highs

The services sector tells a markedly different story than manufacturing and offers clearer insight into consumer health. The services PMI edged up to 51.3, the second-lowest reading in the past 12 months and barely above the expansion threshold.

New orders in services were virtually flat, indicating that businesses and households across tourism, financial services, hospitality, and retail are deliberately restraining spending. This hesitation is not temporary or cyclical; it reflects structural budget strain driven by months of elevated consumer prices and uncertainty about future economic conditions.

Consumer psychology has shifted sharply in the direction of pessimism. A Fox News poll released alongside the PMI report found that 70% of American respondents believe the economy is getting worse, up from 55% a year ago, a 15-percentage-point deterioration in sentiment in just 12 months. Only 26% reported that conditions have improved.

This pessimism cuts across traditional partisan lines: even among Republicans, 56% characterized the economy as bad, suggesting the inflation experience is genuinely bipartisan rather than filtered through political tribalism.

The gap between what official activity metrics show and what consumers believe reflects the ground-level reality of rising costs. The average price of goods and services increased at its quickest rate since July 2022, according to the S&P Global data. While headline inflation had moderated by spring 2024 from 2022 peaks, the April PMI showed prices accelerating again.

For households already stretched by two years of cumulative price increases, this acceleration is not abstract data, it translates directly into reduced purchasing power for energy, groceries, and rent.

Presidential approval crumbles as oil prices near $90 driven by Iran tensions

Political pressure is mounting on the administration as consumers link economic hardship directly to executive policy. President Trump’s economic approval rating dropped to 30% in April, down from 38% in March, a sudden eight-percentage-point fall that tracks closely with deteriorating consumer sentiment.

Only 26% of Americans approve of how the administration is handling the cost of living, indicating that messaging about economic success is not resonating with voters experiencing monthly price increases at the supermarket and gas pump.

Energy costs are a primary driver of that frustration. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iran in response to ongoing regional tensions, while Iran has responded by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical petroleum chokepoint. Oil prices have climbed toward $90 per barrel as traders price in supply risk.

Gasoline prices at $4.00 to $4.50 per gallon across much of the country are pushing real household purchasing power lower each week, and White House officials and Federal Reserve policymakers are now privately modeling scenarios where pump prices reach $5.00 per gallon.

For institutional investors, the geopolitical component of inflation matters because it is largely outside the control of monetary policy.

If the Iran crisis escalates further and oil prices spike to $100 per barrel or above, the Fed faces an impossible choice: tighten policy and risk triggering recession to defend the currency and contain expectations, or hold rates steady and allow a geopolitical shock to feed into broader inflation. Neither option is palatable to equity markets that are currently pricing in rate cuts.

The next critical signpost arrives in coming weeks as energy markets react to any escalation in U.S.-Iran hostilities, and as May economic data begins to show whether April’s panic buying remains elevated or normalizes. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet in June, and policymakers will need to reconcile the tension between slowing services demand (which would normally justify rate cuts) and accelerating price pressures (which normally demands restraint). Watch specifically whether the Fed’s June communication acknowledges the geopolitical inflation risk or continues signaling cuts, as that decision will signal whether rate-cut expectations are still valid or require substantial revision.