Consumer Sentiment Fell 5.1% in September

Ann Arbor, MI, September 28, 2015—Consumer sentiment fell 5.1% to 87.2 in September from August’s 91.9 figure, according to the final results from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers.

September’s figure is 3.1% above September 2014’s 84.6 reading.

“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,” according to Survey of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin. “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. 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.”