According to a study that was released on Friday, the level of optimism among consumers in the United States saw a moderate decline in the month of August.
The final reading for the month of August on the overall index of consumer mood was released by the University of Michigan on Friday, and it came in at 69.5. This is a decrease from the preliminary reading that was released earlier in the month, which was 71.6. Reuters’ survey of economic experts yielded a consensus expectation that consumer morale would be steady at 71.2.
Despite the drop in mood that occurred in August, the index is still far closer to its long-term average of 86 than it is to the all-time low that was recorded in June 2022.
The long-run economic outlook dropped back around 12% this month but remains higher than it was only two months ago, Joanne Hsu, the director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement.
“While buying conditions for durables and expectations over living conditions both improved, the long-run economic outlook fell back about 12% this month,” she said.
The assessment of one-year inflation forecasts obtained from the poll moved up from 3.4% in July to 3.5% this month. The projection for inflation over the next five years came in at 3.0% for the third month in a row, remaining within the tight range of 2.9%-3.1% for 24 of the past 25 months.