By Michael S. Derby 

Almost any way look at it, Americans' outlook on the economy faltered significantly last month as the coronavirus crisis began to take hold in the U.S.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday in its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations that just about every measure of what the public thinks about the future of the economy, be it job related or financial, tumbled last month, as broad swaths of the economy shut down. The survey was launched in 2013, and in March, it recorded a number of record readings.

The report said it collected its findings between March 2 and March 31. As information came in it was already deteriorating, reflecting the fast moving nature of the crisis, the bank said. That suggests future reports could be even worse, as the U.S. confronts a downturn that is unrivaled by economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.

Earlier Monday, Credit Suisse said in a report the U.S. economy will contract 33.5% in the second quarter and by 5.3% for the year, with the expected decline for the year nearly doubling the 2.8% gross domestic product drop seen in 2008, the worst year of the financial crisis. On Friday, the government reported big declines in hiring and a surge in unemployment to 4.4%. Many expect that rate to go much, much higher, and for their only to be a modest recovery into year-end.

In the report, labor market factors fared particularly poorly. Expectations that the unemployment rate would be higher a year from now rose to a record high of 50.9% of those surveyed, from 34.2% in February. The report found that respondents said the probability of losing one's job in the next year jumped 4.7 percentage points to 18.5%, a record for the survey. The probability of finding a new job over the same time horizon dropped to 53%, from February's 58.7%.

Expectations of income gains and spending both declined, and the bank noted "the drop was broad-based across age, education and income groups."

The survey also found households expect credit will be harder to access, and the chance of missing a debt payment is on the rise. What's more, 6.7% of respondents said their personal financial situation was already much worse relative to March 2019. Looking ahead, "respondents also became much more pessimistic in March about their year-ahead financial situations."

It is unclear how expectations over the credit situation will fare as the crisis continues to unfold. A key part of the Federal Reserve's response has been to ensure the stability of the financial system and to help banks lend and to deal with financial disruptions from current customers. The government has also passed stimulus aimed at helping households and companies navigate the crisis.

The report also found that households are less certain what will happen with price pressures. While households continue to expect inflation to rise 2.5% a year from now, they see inflation three years from now at 2.4%, down from February's 2.6% expectation.

Households expect lower gasoline prices and a decline in expected home-price appreciation, falling to a record low of a 1.3% rise, well below the previous record low increase of 2.8%. The bank said the record low expected house price "was broad based across demographic groups and regions."

Write to Michael S. Derby at michael.derby@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 06, 2020 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)