Consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated more than expected in March, according to the University of Michigan\u2019s latest Survey of Consumers released Friday. The index fell to 57.0, marking an 11.9% drop from February and a steep 28.2% decline year-over-year. This is the third consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest reading in over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Economists had forecast a more moderate decline to 57.9. Instead, concerns about inflation and economic policy weighed heavily on households across political affiliations and income brackets, said survey director Joanne Hsu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey\u2019s index of consumer expectations plummeted to 52.6, reflecting a 17.8% drop from February and a 32% fall compared to March 2024. Respondents now expect inflation to run at 5% over the next year and 4.1% over five years \u2014 the highest five-year outlook since 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hsu noted that \u201cconsumers continue to worry about the potential for pain amid ongoing economic policy developments,\u201d referencing President Donald Trump\u2019s recent tariff announcements as a key factor stoking inflation fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Economists warn that the inflationary impact of Trump\u2019s tariff plans could hinder the Federal Reserve\u2019s ability to proceed with further interest rate cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Survey participants also expressed mounting concern about the job market. The percentage of respondents expecting the unemployment rate to rise is now at its highest since 2009, another sign of deteriorating economic confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey\u2019s release coincided with Commerce Department data showing that core inflation rose to 2.8% in February, following a 0.4% monthly gain\u2014the sharpest increase since January 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. stocks reacted negatively to the grim data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 500 points after the survey results were made public, as investors digested the implications of growing economic anxiety and potentially persistent inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
University of Michigan survey shows sharp drop in March confidence Consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated more than expected in March, according to the University of Michigan\u2019s latest Survey of Consumers released Friday. The index fell to 57.0, marking an 11.9% drop from February and a steep 28.2% decline year-over-year. This is the third consecutive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":9879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1278,513,608,289,664,738,276,1026,1280,946,524,1279,1281],"class_list":{"0":"post-9878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance","8":"tag-consumer-sentiment","9":"tag-dow-jones","10":"tag-economic-policy","11":"tag-federal-reserve","12":"tag-inflation","13":"tag-inflation-expectations","14":"tag-interest-rates","15":"tag-labor-market","16":"tag-march-survey","17":"tag-tariffs","18":"tag-trump","19":"tag-unemployment-fears","20":"tag-university-of-michigan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9880,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9878\/revisions\/9880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}