Yael Freiman

Consumer sentiment fell to nearly a record low in November, tumbling to a score of 51 out of 100 from 71.8 a year ago.

A new Fox News poll found that 76 percent of respondents held a negative view of the state of the economy, down 9 percent since just July.

Toby, affordability is making a late surge for word of the year.

Let's talk about the affordability crisis as it pertains to these various buckets that I mentioned, like the things people spend their money on to just live their lives on a daily basis.

First thing is housing.

Homebuyer today needs to earn $121,000 a year to afford a typical home.

and the average American earns about $84,000 a year.

So right there, you see a 25% increase in housing prices since 2019 levels.

When you ask the average person what's become affordable, the first thing they'll say is housing.

Then you move to child care.

In 2024, according to Child Care Aware America, the average annual cost of care for one child around the U.S.

topped $13,000, which is up

30% from 2020.

So childcare is extremely expensive.

Healthcare is also getting even more expensive.

There are 165 million people who on their employers and health insurance plans that are expected to see their premiums up spike by up to 7% next year, come January 1st, that's going to be the largest jump in health costs in 15 years.

Finally, let's round it out with electricity costs.

This has become a very salient political issue.

with data centers going around and gobbling up a lot of energy usage.

Americans pay $265 per month in utility costs currently.