U.S. consumer sentiment remained near a record low this summer even as spending boomed and inflation eased from its 2022-23 highs, the Financial Times reported, showing a split in the economic signals it reviewed.
The Financial Times said the University of Michigan’s index fell below lows recorded in 2022, during the 2008 global financial crisis, around the 1990 oil shock and recession, and in downturns in the early 1980s. The index remained near that depressed level, the outlet reported.
At the same time, the Financial Times described consumer spending as booming and inflation as substantially lower than at its 2022-23 highs. It also characterized broad measures of the economy as strong.
Separately, the Budget Lab at Yale estimated annual household costs due to tariffs at about $1,100 under current law. The estimate gives a measure of one cost facing U.S. households, alongside the broader economic conditions described in the Financial Times report.
