This month, there is rising pessimism across pandemic and financial fronts. Amid a fall uptick in COVID-19 cases, one third of consumers feels the pandemic is headed in the wrong direction. Consumers also feel the economy is headed in the wrong direction, with those who feel the US is in a recession increasing significantly. This is impacting consumers’ personal finances, 7 in 10 say that they are more budget conscious this month – an increase of 8percentage points.