Key Point: “Private sector hiring cratered last month as more businesses cited [Trump’s] unpredictable policies as impediments to growth, according to one widely watched survey released Wednesday.”

Politico: Trump’s lightning policy shifts risk stifling ‘animal spirits’

By Sam Sutton

• President Donald Trump’s decision to impose punishing tariffs on the U.S.’s biggest trading partners is clouding the economic outlook as businesses consider pausing future hiring and investment.
  
• Trump’s whipsaw approach to trade policy — which has included sweeping proclamations about universal tariffs followed by delays, exemptions and reversals — has undercut businesses’ ability to plan ahead during the early days of his administration. And while he has sworn to pursue an agenda that would empower private businesses, the uncertainty generated by his myriad tariff announcements could jeopardize investment that will help the economy expand.
  
• Private sector hiring cratered last month as more businesses cited unpredictable policies as impediments to growth, according to one widely watched survey released Wednesday. Wall Street banks like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are ratcheting up the likelihood of the U.S. falling into a recession within the next 12 months. 

• Both [consumer and corporate optimism] have faded in recent weeks as markets began to contend with the possible consequences of Trump’s agenda.
  
• Trump has also acknowledged that tariffs will cause some economic disruption.
  
• New York Fed President John Williams on Tuesday said tariff-related uncertainty could cause prices to rise and weigh on investment activity in the months ahead.