Consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since 2022, according the latest data from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.
- Consumer sentiment slid this month to 57.9 in March, down 10.5% from February and the lowest level since November 2022.
- Declines were seen consistently across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic.
Continuous Slide: Sentiment has now fallen for three consecutive months and is currently down 22% from December 2024.
Inflation Expectations: Inflation expectations for the year ahead jumped to 4.9% this month, up from 4.3% last month and the highest reading since November 2022.
- This marks the third consecutive month of unusually large increases of 0.5 percentage points or more and was the largest month-over-month increase seen since 1993
What They’re Saying: Renaissance Macro Research noted on Twitter that “the big news in the UMich data was not inflation expectations. Look at what people are saying about the jobs market! Expected change in unemployment worst since the 2008 recession.”
Bottom Line: High prices along with economic uncertainty has been causing headaches for business owners but now it looks consumers are starting to worry as well.
