Consumer Sentiment Barely Budges

Ann Arbor, MI, July 11, 2008--U.S. consumers remain extremely pessimistic this month, according to the consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan/Reuters.

The reading hit 56.6 in July, compared with 56.4 in the prior month. The June reading was the lowest since 1980 and the third-lowest reading in the 56-year history of the survey. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a July result of 56.