In an unexpected turn, consumer sentiment in the United States showed improvement in October, as revealed by revised data from the University of Michigan, released on Friday.
The University of Michigan updated its consumer sentiment index for October to 70.5, a noticeable increase from the preliminary figure of 68.9. This revision exceeded economists' forecasts, who had anticipated a slight rise to 69.0.
Thanks to this more substantial than predicted revision, the index of consumer sentiment has surpassed the final September figure of 70.1.
Marking the third consecutive month of growth, the consumer sentiment index has now reached its peak since April, when it was recorded at 77.2.
Joanne Hsu, the Director of Surveys of Consumers, indicated that the improvement this month was mainly driven by slight enhancements in purchasing conditions for durable goods, partly due to easing interest rates.
The index reflecting current economic conditions increased to 64.9 in October from 63.3 in September. Conversely, the index of consumer expectations dipped to 74.1 from 74.4 in the same period.
The report further highlighted that expectations for inflation over the coming year remained steady at 2.7 percent, consistent with the 2.3-3.0 percent range observed in the two years preceding the pandemic.
In terms of long-term inflation expectations, there was a slight decrease to 3.0 percent in October, down from 3.1 percent in September, yet it remains somewhat elevated compared to the pre-pandemic levels.
