Those laid-off employees, in turn, have to curtail their spending in order to survive until they find new jobs. That leads to still lower consumer confidence. More often than not, when this kind of situation is sustained for a longer period of time, interest rates begin to climb. Investors want a better return on the money they put in banks because they can't get it out of the markets. We aren't there yet, and things might not get that bad.
Interest rates are still very low.
The markets made their displeasure known by dropping yet again. With low interest rates, loans become attractive. That means now is a good time to finance the purchase of a house or to take a car loan. In the meantime, unless you need tax losses, don't sell out at the bottom if your investments are fundamentally sound. Buy those blue chip stocks or funds that are currently on sale at bargain prices.