June 13 (UPI) — Consumer sentiment has risen so far in June as the swirl of concerns related to President Donald Trump’s tariffs have chilled.
That’s according to the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, which said its consumer sentiment index went up for the first time since January, as it rose 16% since May.
The college’s Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a press release Friday that the upward outlook was “unanimous across the distributions of age, income, wealth, political party and geographic region,” and that all the components that drive the index also pointed up.
“Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” she added.
On the other hand, the index is also around 20% below December 2024, and Hsu notes that consumers still feel the economy has several downside risks, in regard to concerns about stock prices, personal finances, labor markets, safety in big ticket item purchase and business conditions.
Despite this month’s notable improvement, consumers remain guarded and concerned about the trajectory of the economy, added Hsu.
She also noted that year-ahead inflation expectations plummeted from 6.6% last month to 5.1% this month, and long-run inflation expectations fell for the second straight month, from 4.2% in May to 4.1% in June, with both readings the lowest in three months.
However, inflation expectations are still above readings taken throughout the second half of 2024, which indicate, Hsu concluded, “widespread beliefs that trade policy may still contribute to an increase in inflation in the year ahead.”
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