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Despite economic uncertainty on the rise as Trump tariff talk morphed into reality, teens appear to be taking things in stride.
About 57% of US teens surveyed in Piper Sandler's closely watched "Taking Stock" spring research report said the economy was getting worse, down from 67% in the fall of 2024 and 65% last spring. The report — released on Wednesday — showed that 19% think the US economy is getting better, up from 10% last fall and 11% last spring.
Teen spending increased 6% to $2,388 on an annualized basis, with around 40% going toward food and clothing, the survey found. Some of their top retail brands skew to more expensive items: Nike (NKE) Jordan sneakers, Ugg boots from Decker's Outdoor (DECK), and Lululemon (LULU) leggings.
Whether this teenage optimism persists is in question as their parents are likely smack in the middle of dealing with falling stock prices and prospects for much higher prices as tariffs penetrate supply chains.
Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
The survey may not yet reflect these fresh economic challenges families are now facing.
Piper Sandler surveyed 6,455 teens, with an average age of 16.2, from Feb. 10 to March 24, just before April's tariff-induced stock market earthquake.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), and S&P 500 (^GSPC) are all down about 10% from March 31 to April 8. Momentum stocks that have minted money for many investors over the past two years are down even more this month —with Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) down 12% and 21%, respectively.
Stocks are reacting to bruising new tariffs from the Trump administration.
Trump's 104% tariffs on China kicked in on Wednesday, igniting the start of a full-on trade war with an important trading partner.
Reciprocal tariffs on the European Union, Japan, and roughly 60 other countries also kicked in today, following a sweeping 10% tariff that set in last weekend.
Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump's tariffs
Signals on the health of the US economy have begun to weaken beyond the pressure on the stock market.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast for the first quarter implies a 2.8% decline in gross domestic product (GDP).
Data from Apollo Global chief economist Torsten Sløk this week highlighted rising weekly corporate bankruptcies, softening movie theater visits, weaker job posting numbers by companies, and rising continuing unemployment claims.
Meanwhile, many economists on Wall Street continue to ratchet up their recession probability forecasts for 2025.
