Say so long to the summertime blues.
American consumers in September turned both more optimistic about the future and happier about their current circumstances, according to the University of Michigan’s survey of consumer sentiment.
The final consumer sentiment survey rose to 93.2 in September from an early estimate of 92, the University of Michigan said Friday. It had fallen to 89.8 in August. Economists had expected the survey to remain unchanged from the early estimate.
Consumers registered improved views current economic condition as well as expectations.
Despite the improvement, sentiment remains less positive than it was a year ago.
“The overall trends in the Sentiment Index remain quite favorable, but show signs of a slow erosion,” Richard Curtin, the survey’s chief economist, said. “Despite the high levels of confidence, consumers have also expressed rising levels of economic uncertainty. Some of these concerns are rooted in partisanship, some due to conditions in the global economy (Brexit, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China), and some are tied to domestic economic policies.”
Curtin said that trade policies have had the greatest negative impact on consumers, with a near-record one-third of all consumers negatively mentioning trade policies in September when asked to explain in their own words the factors underlying their economic expectations.