Consumer Sentiment Drops in August

New York, NY, August 17, 2007--The consumer sentiment index, according to Reuters and University of Michigan preliminary reading in August, declined 7.1 points to 83.3. July’s reading had been 90.4.

Analysts had been expecting the index to all to 88.0

The survey's gauge of current economic conditions was 97.7 in early August, the lowest in 11 months and below the previous month's reading of 104.5.

The survey's one-year inflation expectations index came in at 3.2 percent, the lowest in five months and a drop from a reading of 3.4 percent in the previous month.

Consumer sentiment is often taken as an indicator of future consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy.