US consumer confidence little changed in August, University of Michigan says

16th Aug 2024 14:29

(Sharecast News) - Americans' confidence in the economy and their finances was little changed in August, the results of a closely followed survey revealed.

So too their expectations for inflation.

Preliminary results for the month of August revealed a small improvement in the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index from a July level of 66.4 to 67.8 (consensus: 66.9).

"With election developments dominating headlines this month, sentiment for Democrats climbed 6% in the wake of Harris replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee for president," said Joanne Hsu, the survey's director.

"For Republicans, sentiment moved in the opposite direction, falling 5% this month. Sentiment of Independents, who remain in the middle, rose 3%. The survey shows that 41% of consumers believe that Harris is the better candidate for the economy, while 38% chose Trump."

Hsu further noted how "some" consumers had indicated that their expectations for the economy hinged entirely on the elections yielding the candidate that they anticipated.

Inflation expectations one year ahead were steady from July at 2.9% and at 3.0% for over the long-run.

"Consumer sentiment readings are not influencing our baseline forecast," said Grace Zwemmer, associate US economist at Oxford Economics.

"Consumer spending is more dependent on household balance sheets, which remain strong. However, there are signs that the softening in the labor market is causing spending by more vulnerable consumers to slow."