Consumer Sentiment Fell 2.2% in April

Ann Arbor, MI, May 2, 2016—Consumer sentiment closed April at 89.0, down 2.2% from March’s 91.0 rate, according to the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers’ final results.

April 2016’s rate represents a 7.2% decrease from April 2015.

“Consumer sentiment continued its slow decline in late April due to weakening expectations for future growth, although their views of current economic conditions remained positive,” reports Survey of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin. “All of the April decline was in the Expectations component, which fell by 4.8% from one month ago and by 12.6% from a year ago and by 14.7% from its January 2015 peak. The retreat from the 2015 peaks was evident across a wide range of expectations about prospects for the national economy. The size of the decline, while troublesome, is still far short of indicating an impending recession. The decline is all the more remarkable given that consumers' assessments of current economic conditions, including their personal finance, have remained largely unchanged at very positive levels during the past year. This divergence may reflect the strength of the consumer relative to the business sectors, and may have been exacerbated by growing uncertainty about the economic policies advocated by various presidential candidates. Overall, the data indicate that inflation-adjusted personal consumption expenditures will grow by 2.5% in 2016.”