The University of Michigan announced that the Consumer Confidence Index in its final reading improved to 98.4 in March from 93.8 in February and came in above the market expectation of 97.8
Key takeaways from the press release
- The March gain in the Sentiment Index was entirely due to households with incomes in the bottom two-thirds of the income distribution.
- Rising incomes were accompanied by lower expected year-ahead inflation rates, resulting in more favorable real income expectations.
- While no further decline in interest rate expectations was recorded in March, the data suggest that consumers anticipated additional increases in 2019.
- Overall, the data do not indicate an emerging recession but point toward slightly lower unit sales of vehicles and homes during the year ahead.
March (final) results
- Index of Consumer Sentiment at 98.4 vs 93.8 in February.
- Index of Current Economic Conditions at 113.3 vs 108.5 in February.
- Index of Consumer Expectations at 88.8 vs 84.4 in February.
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