Consumer Sentiment Ticks Down Slightly in June

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in June to 82.7, down from its six-year high of 84.5 in May, according to the latest Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey on the subject.

“Economists … had expected it to hold at 84.5 this month,” Reuters notes, citing economist it had polled.

The decline is due mainly to lowered expectations on employment and housing:

Bloomberg.

“June's reading, however, was the second highest in the last eight months, suggesting Americans were far from gloomy about their long-term prospects,” Reuters notes.

“While the barometer of current economic conditions fell to 92.1 from 98.0, a gauge of consumer expectations edged up to its highest since November at 76.7 from 75.8,” the report adds.

Confidence fell most in lower-income households, which were "more likely to report worsening overall financial prospects" than higher-income earners, Richard Curtin, the survey director, said in a statement.

He added: "[A]ll consumers were less optimistic about job prospects in early June, expected smaller gains in the value of their homes and judged the probability of stock price increases somewhat below last month's level."

U.S. stocks have teetered all month between gains and losses, reacting to movements in global markets (especially in Japan’s Nikkei 225 index) and to rumors that the Federal Reserve may dial back its bond purchasing program.

“The survey's one-year inflation expectation rose to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, and the survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook move to 3 percent from 2.9 percent,” Reuters adds.

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