US consumer sentiment falls slightly in September

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US consumer sentiment fell slightly in September, according to the University of Michigan's consumer survey final results released Friday.

The index of consumer sentiment declined 1.4 percentage points to 68.1 in September, from 69.5 in August.

The market expectation for the index was to come in at 67.7.

"A small decline in consumer expectations over their personal finances was offset by a modest improvement in expected business conditions," Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

"Consumers are understandably unsure about the trajectory of the economy given multiple sources of uncertainty, for example over the possible shutdown of the federal government and labor disputes in the auto industry," she added.

Year-ahead inflation expectations decreased from 3.5% last month to 3.2% in this month, which is the lowest reading since March 2021.

The index of current economic conditions declined 4.3 points to 71.4 in September, from 75.7 in August, according to the survey results.

The index of consumer expectations, on the other hand, increased 0.5 point to 66 from 65.5 during that period.