CHICAGO, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index was 97.2 in April, slightly below March's 98.4 and last April's 98.8, according to a survey released by the University of Michigan (UM) on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Expectations Index was 87.4, insignificantly below last month's 88.8 and last April's 88.4. The Current Conditions Index was 112.3, falling slightly from last month's 113.3 and last year's 114.9.
Confidence has remained at high levels due to low rates of unemployment and inflation as well as renewed income growth, said economist Richard Curtin, director of the UM Surveys of Consumers. Although consumers now anticipate a slower pace of economic growth, they expect those favorable conditions to persist during the year ahead.
"Overall, the data indicate that inflation-adjusted personal consumption expenditures will grow by 2.5 percent in 2019," Curtin said.
Improved finances were cited by 53 percent of all consumers in April, equal to the average level recorded during the past year, which is the highest average since 1999.
When asked about their financial prospects for the year ahead, 44 percent anticipated improvements compared with just 8 percent who expected worsening finances, the best overall reading since 2004.
When asked about longer term financial prospects, 60 percent reported in the April survey that they expected to be better off financially over the next five years.
Consumers expected the pace of economic growth to slow in the year ahead, but this expectation had little impact on unemployment expectations. Half of all consumers anticipated that the unemployment rate would remain unchanged at its current low, while the other half were slightly tilted toward expecting further small declines rather than increases during the year ahead.
The UM's Consumer Sentiment Index has moved sideways, recording only small monthly variations for more than two years.
The sentiment index has averaged 97.2 during the past 28 months, identical to the April 2019 reading, and has remained between 95.0 and 99.0 for 21 of those months.
The Surveys of Consumers is a rotating panel survey based on a nationally representative sample that gives each household in the coterminous United States an equal probability of being selected. Interviews are conducted throughout the month by telephone.
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