Household Employment Showing Signs of Recession

Household employment slows down and show that small businesses are shedding jobs. 

Umich Household Durables Good Time to Purchase Vs. Unemployment Rate

Umich Household Durables - Good Time to Purchase are correlated to the unemployment rate.

US consumers spend less on critical household purchases when their economic situation deteriorates; alternatively, the decision to reduce spending on key household products, which may come amid concerns for future income and wealth, creates a feedback loop which ultimately results in an economic contraction.

University of Michigan charts can be found here.

China Vs. U.S.

There is a lot of talk about China collapsing. Let's compare China to the U.S.

Savings rate: China has a much higher savings rate compared to the U.S. 

Household debt: China's household debt to GDP is lower than the U.S. In fact, it is only 50% of GDP. Most of the debt is mortgage debt, but Chinese tend to pay at least 20% in cash for their house.

 

Corporate debt: China corporate debt is higher than the U.S. This is a bit of a problem. It is now at 150% of GDP. But these are mostly government owned debt from banks to corporations.