Consumer sentiment tumbles in April as inflation fears spike, University of Michigan survey shows

Source: CNBC, 4/11/25

Consumer sentiment grew even worse than expected in April as the expected inflation level hit its highest since 1981, a closely watched University of Michigan survey showed Friday.

The survey’s mid-month reading on consumer sentiment fell to 50.8, down from 57.0 in March and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 54.6. The move represented a 10.9% monthly change and was 34.2% lower than a year ago. It was lowest reading since June 2022 and the second lowest in the survey’s history going back to 1952. As sentiment moved lower, inflation worries surged.

Respondents’ expectation for inflation a year from now leaped to 6.7%, the highest level since November 1981 and up from 5% in March. At the five-year horizon, the expectation climbed to 4.4%, a 0.3 percentage point increase from March and the highest since June 1991. Other measures in the survey also showed deterioration.

The current economic conditions index fell to 56.5, an 11.4% drop from March, while the expectations measure slipped to 47.2, a 10.3% fall and its lowest since May 1980. On an annual basis, the two measures dropped 28.5% and 37.9%, respectively. Stocks turned negative following the report and Treasury yields added to gains. “Consumers have spiraled from anxious to petrified,” wrote Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/11/consumer-sentiment-tumbles-in-april-as-inflation-fears-spike-university-of-michigan-survey-shows.html

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The above is straight from BumRushDaShow's LBN posting which was locked as analysis

The original source: http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/

Here's a couple of the graphs:


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And links to three more:

Current Economic Conditions Index http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/chiccr.pdf
Index of Consumer Expectations http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/chicer.pdf
Expected Changes in Prices During the Next Five Years http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/chpx5r.pdf

They also have Excel versions of all of the above.

All of the above are the 10 year graphs. They also have 50 year graphs, both PDF and Excel of all of the above.
http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/charts.html