Consumer Sentiment Decreases to Three-Month Low
Consumer confidence in the United States fell in June to a three-month low, adding to signs of a more restrained rebound in the second-quarter economy.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of sentiment decreased to 81.2 from 81.9 in May. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of 67 economists called for a June reading of 83.
Elevated fuel prices and limited wage gains are weighing on Americans’ moods and squeezing their pocketbooks even as employers add workers and cut back on firings.
“The consumer-sentiment picture really hasn’t changed very much over the past year,” said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. “It’s consistent with the picture that the economy is growing but not very fast.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg News survey ranged from 80 to 84.5. The index averaged 89 in the five years before December 2007, when the last recession began, and 64.2 during the 18-month contraction.
The Michigan sentiment survey’s measure of expectations six months from now decreased to 72.2, also a three-month low, from 73.7 the prior month. The current conditions index, which takes stock of Americans’ view of their personal finances, rose to 95.4 this month from 94.5 in May.
