The U.S. economy has been sliding the wrong direction for a very long time, and now our economic momentum in the wrong direction is accelerating.  Retail sales are slowing down, the housing market is in a depressed state, mass layoffs are happening all over the nation, stores are closing at a staggering pace, the cost of living has become extremely painful, and debt levels have soared to unprecedented heights.  Four years of deteriorating economic conditions have brought us to a breaking point, and now we are witnessing quite a bit of shaking in the financial markets.  Even though many in the mainstream media are still trying to deny it, the truth is that we are in an enormous amount of trouble.  The following are 17 signs that America's long economic slide threatens to become an economic avalanche…

#1 The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence just experienced the largest drop that we have seen since August 2021…

Consumers grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook in February as worries brewed about a slowing economy and rising inflation, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The board's Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down 7 points and below the Dow Jones forecast for 102.3. This was the lowest reading since June 2024 and the largest monthly drop since August 2021.