A recent survey discovered that 79 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. is on the wrong track right now.  As a nation, we may not agree on much, but this is one thing that almost all of us can agree on.  Needless to say, the economy is the number one reason why so many people are dissatisfied with the direction that the country is heading.  Over the past four years the cost of living has risen much faster than paychecks have, and as a result our standard of living has been going down.  Now we have reached a point where tens of millions of U.S. consumers have been squeezed bone dry, and as a result businesses are failing all over the nation.

Traditionally, the performance of the home improvement industry has been a very important economic harbinger.

And at this moment the home improvement industry is really struggling.

For example, True Value has been doing so poorly that it was finally forced to file for bankruptcy…

True Value, a 75-year old hardware store brand, has filed for bankruptcy and is selling substantially all of its operations to a rival, the company announced Monday.

In a press release, True Value said it will continue day-to-day operations of selling hardware and other homeware tools to its 4,500 independently operated locations during the Chapter 11 process, which includes a $153 million stalking horse bid from rival company Do it Best.

Meanwhile, Home Depot says that sales in 2024 will be down quite a bit from 2023…

The home improvement retailer said it now expects full-year comparable sales to decline by 3% to 4% compared with the prior fiscal year. It had previously expected comparable sales, a metric that takes out the impact of store openings and closures and other one-time factors, to decline about 1%.

In an article that I posted last week, I mentioned that Home Depot has been dumping millions of square feet of warehouse space.

They wouldn't be doing this if they thought that the economy would be turning around any time soon.

Another giant in the home improvement industry, PPG, has decided the time has come for mass layoffs…

PPG — a global manufacturer of paints, coatings, and specialty materials — is laying off nearly 2,000 workers as it trims operation costs and sells off a chunk of its architectural business.

The cuts will impact about 1,800 positions, primarily in the U.S. and Europe. PPG didn't disclose when the layoffs would occur.