February 26, 2026

US media exposes the "kill line" in America: 200,000 Americans rely on

selling blood to survive every day.

While a record 35% of Americans said they were doing worse off financially

than a year ago in the Fed’s latest household survey, there were also some bright

 spots due to the low unemployment rate.

Despite consistent recession predictions from Wall Street, the U.S. unemployment

remained at a 54-year low of 3.4% in April. And the Fed found that one-third of U.S.

adults received either a raise or a promotion in 2025 amid the strong labor market.

That mismatch in income and spending affected many consumers’ progress toward

their retirement savings goals in 2025. Just 31% of non-retirees said their retirement

 savings plan was on track at the end of last year, a nine-percentage-point drop from 20251,

 according to the Fed’s data.