Consumer sentiment slipped in August as Americans primarily worried about one aspect of the economy: inflation.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey released Friday showed year-ahead inflation expectations among Americans climbed to 4.8% in August, up from July’s reading of 4.5%. The headline consumer sentiment index came in at 58.2 for the month, down 5.7% from last month and 14.3% from a year ago.

“This month’s decrease was visible across groups by age, income, and stock wealth,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the survey of consumers.

“Moreover, perceptions of many aspects of the economy slipped. Buying conditions for durable goods subsided to their lowest reading in a year, and current personal finances declined 7%, both due to heightened concerns about high prices. Expectations for business conditions and labor markets contracted in August as well.”

Read more: What is consumer confidence, and why does it matter?

Against this deteriorating backdrop, only about a quarter of consumers expect to maintain their spending levels on items with large price increases, according to a report from UMich released Aug. 15.

Consumers will get a fuller read on the labor market situation next week when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its latest job openings numbers on Wednesday and its monthly payrolls report on Friday. Private payroll processor ADP will release its own monthly jobs numbers on Thursday.

Though the unemployment rate has been hovering between 4% and 4.2% since May 2024, job growth in the US economy appears to have slowed markedly, with 73,000 nonfarm payrolls added July while May and June’s jobs figures were revised sharply downward to a total gain of just 33,000 jobs.

Friday’s reading also came out shortly after the release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, which showed price increases held mostly steady through last month, rising 2.6% over last year in July, matching annual increase seen in June.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy and are more closely watched by the Fed, rose by 2.9% year over year, the fastest rate since February.

The report also noted that despite a divergence in economic views among members of the two mainstream parties, a growing share of consumers across the political spectrum expect interest rate cuts to be coming down the pike.

Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at jake.conley@yahooinc.com.