Breaking: US UoM Consumer Sentiment Index falls sharply to 70.2 in August

Consumer confidence in the US deteriorated sharply in August with the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index dropping to 70.2 in August (preliminary) from 81.2 in July. This reading missed the market expectation of 81.2 by a wide margin.

Further details of the publication revealed that the Current Conditions Index declined to 77.9 from 84.5 and the Consumer Expectations Index dropped to 65.2 from 79. Finally, the 1-year Inflation Outlook edged lower to 4.6% from 4.7%.

Commenting on the data, “consumers reported a stunning loss of confidence in the first half of August,” noted Richard Curtin, Surveys of Consumers chief economist. “There is little doubt that the pandemic’s resurgence due to the Delta variant has been met with a mixture of reason and emotion. Consumers have correctly reasoned that the economy’s performance will be diminished over the next several months.”