Consumer sentiment took another hit in March as worries intensified over inflation and a slumping stock market, according to the University of Michigan’s latest sentiment survey released Friday.

The survey posted a mid-month reading of 57.9, which represents a 10.5% decline from February and was below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 63.2. The reading was 27.1% below a year ago.

While the current conditions index fell a less severe 3.3%, the expectations measure for the future was off 15.3% on a monthly basis and 30% from the same period in 2024.

In addition, fears grew over where inflation is headed as President Donald Trump institutes tariffs against U.S. trading partners.

The one-year outlook spiked to 4.9%, up 0.6 percentage point from February and the highest reading since November 2022. At the five-year horizon, the outlook jumped to 3.9%, up 0.4 percentage point for the highest level since February 1993.

While the survey is often prone to disparities between parties, survey officials said sentiment slumped across partisan lines along with virtually all demographics.

“Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors; frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one’s policy preferences,” survey director Joanna Hsu said. “Consumers from all three political affiliations are in agreement that the outlook has weakened since February.”

Expectations fell 10% for Republicans, 24% for Democrats and 12% for independents, Hsu added.

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The U.K.’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% month-on-month in January, official figures showed on Friday.

Britain’s Office for National Statistics said the fall was mainly due to a contraction in the production sector.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the country’s GDP to grow by 0.1%.

The U.K. economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, beating expectations, ONS data showed last month. It flatlined in the third quarter.

The monthly GDP data has been checkered since then, with a 0.1% contraction in October, a 0.1% expansion in November and a 0.4% month-on-month expansion in December thanks, to growth in services and production.

Friday’s GDP release will be the last data print before the U.K. Treasury’s “Spring Statement” on March 26, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves presents an update on her plans for the British economy.

The statement is released alongside economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, the U.K.’s independent economic and fiscal forecaster, which gives its assessment on the likely impact of the government’s tax and spending plans.

There have been concerns that the Treasury’s fiscal plans, which were laid out last fall and which will increase the tax burden on British businesses, could weigh on investment, jobs and growth. Reeves has defended the tax rises, saying they’re a one-off measure and necessary to boost investment in public services.

The Bank of England made its first interest rate cut of the year in February, signaling further cuts were to come as it halved the U.K.’s growth forecast for 2025 from 1.5% to 0.75%.

The central bank said it would judge how to balance the need to boost growth with the inflationary risk posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. The U.K. has not been targeted so far.

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Americans use a lot of aluminum.

The metal is both lightweight and an effective conductor of electricity, giving it countless applications in transportation and energy systems alongside culinary work and more.

“It really is the magic metal,” said Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association.

Aluminum is one of 50 “critical minerals” identified by the U.S. Geological Survey. But most production of aluminum occurs in other countries.

The Trump administration would like to bring some of that production into the U.S. Its main policy tool here will be tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods.

Since 2018, the U.S. has levied a 10% tariff on aluminum imports. During the Biden years, various trading partners were exempted from those fees. As a result, the effective rate for aluminum entering the U.S. was just 3.91% in February 2025, according to S&P Global. In March 2025, President Donald Trump raised existing tariffs on steel and aluminum to 25%.

Canada is by far the largest source of U.S. imports of aluminum.

The full price-level effects of these tariffs are unknown and any analysis is subject to revision as trade negotiations unfold. Still, some experts believe that price increases for consumers potentially could be small.

“When you consider a $40,000 car or something like that, it might increase the price by about $75,” said Scott Paul, president at the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy and lobbying group.

The administration says that these tariffs are necessary to fight trends in the global economy that disadvantage the U.S, primarily the rising importance of China.

“The subsidies allowed China to come in at an artificially low price. And that has roiled the aluminum industry globally and in particular in the United States,” said Paul.

The Aluminum Association, a U.S. organization comprised of industry decision makers, believes that rebuilding domestic smelting capacity could take large provisions of electricity and potentially have a net negative effect on the domestic labor force. In an interview with CNBC, the group also noted that it could take around eight to 10 years to build new industrial facilities like “smelters” which convert alumina into its final, consumer-friendly form.

“In the meantime we will import,” Johnson said.

Watch the video above to see why President Trump is taxing imports of aluminum.