Democrats Lost Faith In February As UMich Inflation Indicator Ticked Up

Democrats’ consumer confidence tumbled in February, falling 7.1 pts (from 101.7 to 94.6) – the most since June 2022. At the same time, Republicans’ confidence rose to its highest since July 2021…

Source: Bloomberg

Maybe their confidence was shattered by Biden’s polling numbers… or the start of a loss of faith that The Fed has won (as the short-term inflation expectations ticked up to 3.0%)…

Source: Bloomberg

US consumer sentiment fell in February for the first time in three months as current and expected views of the economy deteriorated.

The sentiment index declined to 76.9 from 79 in January (lower than all estimates). The current conditions gauge fell last month to 79.4 and a measure of expectations dropped to 75.2 from January.

Source: Bloomberg

Buying conditions for durable goods eased, as did consumers’ expectations for their personal finances.

“Consumers perceived few changes in the state of the economy since the start of the new year, and they appear to be assured that inflation will continue on a favorable trajectory,” said JoanneHsu, Director.

“Sentiment is currently 8 points shy of the historical average since 1978.”

Finally, despite of continued strength in many stock market indicators, stock owners reported declines in sentiment, while for non-owners sentiment rose 5%.