UMich Sentiment Disappoints As Democrats Outlook Hits Lows

After the flash October sentiment survey extended September’s rebound from August’s slump, expectations were for the small positive to hold or improve further, but the final print was slightly disappointing – dropping from 96.0 to 95.5 (still up from 93.2 in September).

Expectations index rose to 84.2 vs. 83.4 last month.
Current economic conditions index rose to 113.2 vs. 108.5 last month.

Source: Bloomberg

As UMich notes, the focus of consumers has been on income and job growth, while largely ignoring other news.

The most spontaneous references were to the negative impact of tariffs, which fell to 27% in October from last month’s 36%; the impeachment inquiry totaled just 2% in October, less than the 5% who mentioned a negative impact from the GM strike. To be sure, the multiple sources of uncertainty will keep consumers focused on potential threats to their prevailing optimism, with the most critical being threats that could significantly diminish their job and income prospects.

Buying conditions for vehicles and large appliances bounced notably, not so much that of housing…