United States consumer sentiment remains depressed in late august

If the slide in confidence translates to a pullback in spending, economic growth may decelerate further in the coming months.

U.S. consumer sentiment remained weak in late August amid ongoing concerns over inflation and the coronavirus pandemic.
 

The University of Michigan’s final sentiment index fell to a near-decade low of 70.3 during the month from 81.2 in July, data released Friday showed. The figure was in line with the preliminary reading and just below the median estimate of 70.8 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

“Consumers’ extreme reactions were due to the surging Delta variant, higher inflation, slower wage growth, and smaller declines in unemployment,” Richard Curtin, director of the survey, said in a statement. 

“The extraordinary falloff in sentiment