Consumer sentiment plunges
American consumer sentiment fell to its weakest reading in roughly half a century, according to recent reporting. The coverage links the drop to growing concern over trade policy and tariff escalation, saying households are beginning to internalise the costs of prolonged economic confrontation. (webanditnews.com)
U.S. consumer sentiment fell to 47.6 in early April, the lowest reading in the University of Michigan survey’s records back to 1952. (sca.isr.umich.edu; money.usnews.com) The preliminary April reading, released Friday, April 10, dropped from 53.3 in March and came in well below the 52.0 economists expected in a Reuters poll. (sca.isr.umich.edu; money.usnews.com) Consumers also raised their one-year inflation expectation to 4.8% from 3.8% in March, while the five-year outlook rose to 3.4% from 3.2%. (cnbc.com; sca.isr.umich.edu) The survey landed the same day the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the Consumer Price Index rose 0.9% in March and 3.3% from a year earlier. Energy prices jumped 10.9% in the month, led by a 21.2% rise in gasoline. (bls.gov; cnbc.com) The University of Michigan survey measures how households view their finances, buying conditions, and the broader economy. Those views do not track one-for-one with spending, but consumer spending is the largest part of the U.S. economy. (sca.isr.umich.edu; bea.gov) That split is visible in other data. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index edged up to 91.8 in March from 91.0 in February, even as it said tariff passthrough and higher oil prices were showing up in inflation expectations. (conference-board.org) Joanne Hsu, director of the Michigan survey, said most April interviews were completed before the April 7 ceasefire, so the results mainly captured conditions from March and early April. She said comments showed many consumers blamed the Iran conflict for worsening economic conditions. (cnbc.com) The labor market, for now, does not show a recession signal from the Sahm Rule measure. The real-time indicator stood at 0.20 in March, below the 0.50 threshold associated with recession onset. (fred.stlouisfed.org) What comes next depends on whether gasoline prices and supply disruptions ease. If they do not, the record-low sentiment reading from April 10 will test whether households keep spending even as they say they feel worse about the economy. (cnbc.com; bea.gov)
