U.S. Consumer Sentiment Inches Higher In February

After reporting a surge in consumer sentiment in the previous month, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing a slight improvement in sentiment in the month of February.

The report said the consumer sentiment index inched up to 79.6 in February after spiking to 79.0 in January. Economists had expected the index to rise to 80.0.

With the uptick, the consumer sentiment index reached its highest level since hitting 81.2 in July 2021.

“The fact that sentiment lost no ground this month suggests that consumers continue to feel more assured about the economy, confirming the considerable improvements in December and January across various aspects of the economy,” said Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.

She added, “Consumers continued to express confidence that the slowdown in inflation and strength in labor markets would continue.”

The modest increase by the headline index reflected an improvement in consumer expectations, as the index of consumer expectations rose to 78.4 in February from 77.1 in January.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan said the current economic conditions index edged down to 81.5 in February from 81.9 in January.

The report also said year-ahead inflation inched up to 3.0 percent in February from 2.9 percent in January.

Long-run inflation expectations remained at 2.9 percent for the third straight month, staying within the narrow 2.9-3.1 percent range for 28 of the last 31 months.