by Derek Saul
Forbes
Consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level of 2024 this month, according to a University of Michigan poll, as Americans react sourly to inflation that won’t go away during the election year, though the economy remains far from the recession braced for by many.
Key Facts
The Michigan survey’s preliminary May index reading came in at 67.4, coming in far weaker than mean economist forecasts of 76 and registering its weakest level since November.
The sharper-than-expected decline came as Americans expressed “worries that inflation, unemployment and interest rates may all be moving in an unfavorable direction in the year ahead,” Joanne Hsu, the director of the phone poll, said in a statement.