The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, March 29, edition that the U.S. economy may be facing serious trouble, despite not showing in hard numbers yet. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that President Donald Trump's agenda has shaken consumer and business confidence, leading to a darkening national mood. Soft indicators like consumer and investor surveys reveal a troubling decline, with rising fears of inflation and job losses, although traditional metrics like GDP growth have yet to reflect this downturn. The recent University of Michigan consumer survey for March revealed consumer confidence at its lowest in 2-1/2 years, with long-term inflation expectations at their highest since 1992. Previously, weak survey results could have been attributed to discontent among Democratic voters. However, the negative sentiment is now affecting both parties. If the soft data are to be believed -- and it is getting hard to refute -- then the U.S. economy is on the cusp of major slowdown. Wall Street consensus has already begun to bank on a recession toward the end of the year. It appears much closer than that. An imminent recession would seriously test the pain tolerance of the Trump administration so soon after taking power.