“Consumer sentiment posted a robust rise in early September, reaching 100.8, the second highest level since 2004-only behind the March 2018 reading of 101.4,” the University of Michigan reported on Friday.
Key quotes
- The gains were widespread across all major socioeconomic subgroups.
- The Expectations Index reached its highest level since July 2004, largely due to more favorable prospects for jobs and incomes.
- Despite a lessening of expected gains in nominal incomes in September, inflation expectations also declined, acting to offset concerns about declining living standards.
- The largest problem cited on the economic horizon involved the anticipated negative impact from tariffs.
- Concerns about the negative impact of tariffs on the domestic economy were spontaneously mentioned by nearly one-third of all consumers in the past three months, up from one-in-five in the prior four months.