Business

/

ArcaMax

US consumer sentiment falls to lowest since May on job worries

Nazmul Ahasan, Bloomberg News on

Published in Business News

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in September to the lowest since May and long-term inflation expectations rose for the second straight month, as concerns about the labor market and prices weighed on the economic outlook.

The preliminary September sentiment index declined to 55.4 from 58.2 in August, according to the University of Michigan. That was below all but one economist’s forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 4.8% over the next year, unchanged from the previous month, data released Friday showed. They saw costs rising at an annual rate of 3.9% over the next five to 10 years, a jump from the 3.5% rate seen last month.

The figures underscore consumers’ anxiety about employment prospects and personal finances.

“Consumers’ expected probability of personal job loss grew sharply this year and ticked up in September as well,” Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in a statement, “suggesting that consumers are indeed concerned that they may be personally affected by any negative developments in labor markets.”

“Moreover, consumers also feel squeezed by the persistence of high prices,” she added.

 

Data out in recent weeks paints a picture of a materially slowing labor market and stubborn inflation. U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, and consumer prices rose at the fastest pace since the start of the year. Costs of several key household expenses like groceries and gasoline climbed.

Persistent worries about tariffs weighed on sentiment, with about 60% of surveyed consumers providing unprompted comments about the levies.

The survey showed the current conditions gauge declined to 61.2 this month from 61.7 in August, while the expectations index fell to 51.8 from 55.9.

Gauges of sentiment among Republicans and independents slipped to four-month lows, while the outlook among Democrats improved slightly.

The survey was conducted Aug. 26 to Sept. 8.


©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus