US consumer sentiment retreats from highest since October 2021

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US consumer sentiment retreated in August, according to the University of Michigan's consumer survey preliminary results released Friday.

The index of consumer sentiment fell slightly, 0.4 percentage points, to 71.2 in August from 71.6 in July, which was the highest level since October 2021.

The market expectation for the index was to come in at 71.0.

"At 71.2 index points, sentiment is now about 42% above the all-time historic low reached in June of 2022 and is approaching the historical average reading of 86," Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

"In general, consumers perceived few material differences in the economic environment from last month, but they saw substantial improvements relative to just three months ago," she added.

Year-ahead inflation expectations dropped from 3.4% in July to 3.3% in August, remaining mostly stable for three consecutive months. Long-run inflation expectations also remained stable at 2.9%.

The index of current economic conditions, on the other hand, rose 0.8 percentage point to 77.4 in August, from 76.6 in July, according to the preliminary results.

The index of consumer expectations, however, decreased one percentage point to 67.3 from 68.3 during that period.