Final Reading of Consumer Sentiment Rises in September from Preliminary Data

Shoppers at Third Street Promenade outdoor shopping mall on August 17, 2012 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo: Reuters)

A gauge of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan rose to 87.2 in September from a preliminary reading of 85.7, though remained at its lowest level since September 2014.

“The decline in optimism continued to narrow in late September as consumers increasingly concluded that the stock market declines had more to do with international conditions than the domestic economy,” Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin said. “While the September Sentiment Index was at the lowest level in eleven months, it was still higher than in any prior month since May 2007.”

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal anticipated consumer sentiment would clock in at a slightly smaller increase to 86.7. Curtin added:

To be sure, a raft of recent events have been viewed as negative economic indicators by consumers, including falling commodity prices, weakened Chinese and other economies as well as continued stresses on European countries. Although most believe the domestic economy is still largely insulated, they have lowered the pace of job and wage growth that they now anticipate. The true significance of these findings is not the diminished economic prospects, but that consumers now believe that global economic trends can directly influence their own job and wage prospects as well as indirectly via financial markets. While now small, the influence of the global economy is certain to rise in the future and prompt widespread adjustments by consumers and policy makers.