Americans are taking notice of a possible government shutdown and the uncertainty of ongoing labor strikes, according to the University of Michigan’s latest consumer sentiment survey.
The university’s Consumer Sentiment Index edged lower by 1.4 points in September, according to a final reading. That means US consumers didn’t feel much gloomier this month — but that could change in October.
“Consumers are understandably unsure about the trajectory of the economy given multiple sources of uncertainty, for example over the possible shutdown of the federal government and labor disputes in the auto industry,” said the university’s Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu in a release.
“Until more information emerges about these developments, though, consumers have reserved judgment on whether economic conditions have materially changed from the past few months,” she added.
The survey’s measure of consumers’ expectations of future business conditions inched higher to a reading of 66 in September, up from August’s reading of 65.5. Meanwhile, Americans’ expectation of inflation rates in the year ahead moderated to a 3.2% rate this month, down from 3.5% in the prior month.