US consumer sentiment drops to its lowest since November 2022

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Consumer sentiment in the US dropped in March, marking its lowest level since November 2022, according to final results from the University of Michigan's consumer survey released Friday.

The index of consumer sentiment decreased 6.8 points to 57.9 in March, from 64.7 in February.

The market expectation for the index was to come in at 63.1.

"Consumer sentiment slid another 11% this month, with declines seen consistently across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic regions. Sentiment has now fallen for three consecutive months and is currently down 22% from December 2024," Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

"While current economic conditions were little changed, expectations for the future deteriorated across multiple facets of the economy, including personal finances, labor markets, inflation, business conditions, and stock markets," she added.

Hsu stressed that despite their greater confidence following the election, Republicans posted a sizable 10% decline in their expectations index in March.

The figure was even steeper for the Independents and Democrats, with decrease of 12% and 24%, respectively.

Meanwhile, short-term inflation expectations jumped to 4.9% in March from the previous month's 4.3%.

The rise marked the highest reading since November 2022 and also marked three consecutive months of unusually large increases of 0.5 percentage points or more.

The long-term inflation expectations also increased to 3.9% from 3.5% in February, which marked largest month-on-month increase seen since 1993.