US Consumers Continue To Feel Pessimistic About Economic Prospects

U.S. consumers are not happy about the state of the economy and a fear of rising prices is at the center of their concerns.

In a survey of consumer sentiment released by the University of Michigan on Friday, preliminary results for September compared to August showed Americans' overall view of the economy’s health grew more negative.

According to the University of Michigan survey's chief economist Richard Curtin, two components declined: rising prices for durables and a more dour view of their long-term economic prospects.

Rising inflation, and the expectation that it will continue to go higher, have pushed buyer attitudes to a level not seen since 1980, Curtin explained. Prices for homes, cars, and other long-lasting goods have all gone up through the COVID-19 pandemic and it may have made buyers wary about whether these increases will continue.

Prices in some sectors, like the housing market, were rising before the pandemic, but all are amplified by the supply and demand imbalances it has created.

Curtin noted that observers were expecting consumer pessimism to peter out by the end of summer because they assessed that it was driven largely by emotions. A sense that this inflation may not be transitory endured for months, driving consumers’ confidence in their economic prospects to a 10-year low.

Despite these results, there are those who see the negativity as close to bottoming out soon, including Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“Sentiment remains depressed relative both to the spring and – especially – the pre-pandemic level, but we think the September reading will be the floor,” Shepherdson wrote in a note to clients, according to MarketWatch.

Curtin also proposed that the pessimism could still prove to be passing. He assessed that consumers might accept current inflation levels under the idea that they will improve later, prompting them to put off purchases for now which could mean a larger rebound in consumer sentiment in 2022.