American consumers’ confidence in the economy unexpectedly rose in March. This emerged from the final figures from the University of Michigan on Thursday.
The consumer confidence index rose from 76.9 in February to 79.4 in March. Halfway through the month, a preliminary figure indicated a small decline in confidence.
Confidence in the current state of the economy rose from 79.4 to 82.5.
Respondents also became more positive about economic expectations. That subindex rose from 75.2 to 77.4.
Overall, sentiment has remained essentially unchanged through the first quarter of 2024 and remains just below the midpoint between pre-pandemic levels and the historic lows of June 2022. This stability reflects the perception among consumers that the economy is has remained stable in recent years. its current state, according to Joanne Hsu of the University of Michigan.
Inflation expectations for the next 12 months stood at 2.9 percent, from 3.0 percent at the end of February. Inflation expectations for the next 5 years fell from 2.9 to 2.8 percent.
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