Topline<\/p>\n
Views on the U.S. economy fell to a three-year low among Americans this month as consumers expressed growing concerns about the government shutdown, according to a widely tracked survey released Friday by the University of Michigan. <\/p>\n
Economists have warned of a divided economy in recent weeks, with high-income Americans driving consumer spending.<\/p>\n
Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
Consumer sentiment\u2014a monthly survey on Americans\u2019 views on the economy\u2014fell to 50.3 in November from 53.6 in October, below the historical benchmark of 100 and nearing a record low set in June 2022 (50), a reading<\/a> of the University of Michigan\u2019s study found. <\/p>\n A preliminary reading for November fell well below Wall Street\u2019s projections for consumer sentiment to rise slightly to 54.2, according to FactSet. <\/p>\n A measurement of Americans\u2019 views on economic conditions fell 6.3 points\u2014a nearly 11% decline\u2014to a record 52.3, as consumers expect prices to rise at a 3.6% annual rate over the next five to 10 years, a three-month low.<\/p>\n Why Are Americans Pessimistic About The Economy?<\/p>\n Joanne Hsu, the survey\u2019s director, said in a statement that consumers are withstanding \u201cpressure\u201d on their personal finances from \u201cmultiple directions,\u201d as Americans anticipate the job market to continue deteriorating and \u201cexpect to be personally affected.\u201d Consumers\u2019 expectations about losing their jobs fell to the highest reading since March, Hsu said. She noted that, as a government shutdown continues \u201cdragging on,\u201d consumers are \u201cexpressing worries about potential negative consequences for the economy.\u201d The survey previously said there was \u201clittle evidence\u201d the shutdown had impacted economic views.<\/p>\n What To Watch For<\/p>\n Whether consumer sentiment declines in updated readings later this month when the University of Michigan releases its final reading Nov. 21. In October, a preliminary reading of 55.1 fell to 53.6, the lowest since May and below analysts\u2019 expectations to remain at 55. The Conference Board will release its own data on Americans\u2019 views on the economic outlook on Nov. 25. The think tank previously reported its confidence index fell to 94.6 in October from 95.6 in August, the lowest reading since April, as roughly 18% of consumers said jobs were \u201chard to get.\u201d <\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n Rising prices and unemployment have continued to disrupt Americans\u2019 views on the economy this year, though the government shutdown has emerged as a new concern. Stephanie Guichard, a senior economist at the Conference Board, wrote last month that respondents to the think tank\u2019s survey mentioned the government shutdown\u2014now the longest in history\u2014\u201cmultiple times as a key concern.\u201d Guichard noted that consumers appeared to be \u201ca bit more pessimistic \u201c about future job availability and job conditions, while Hsu said in October that Americans are \u201cfrustrated by the persistence of high prices.\u201d The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported inflation rose 3% in September, with gas prices rising the most (4.1%) among all items tracked by the agency. It\u2019s not immediately clear whether unemployment, last reported at 3.5% in August, has worsened, though the Federal Reserve and several economists have said they believe the labor market has cooled significantly. Private payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday that employment in the private sector accelerated faster than expected in October as payrolls increased by 42,000. That marked a rebound from the 29,000 jobs shed in September, the largest single-month decline since March 2023.<\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesEconomic Confidence Hits Five-Month Low: Consumers \u2018Frustrated\u2019 With High PricesBy Ty Roush<\/a>ForbesInflation Rose Again Last Month, Delayed Data ShowsBy Ty Roush<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline Views on the U.S. economy fell to a three-year low among Americans this month as consumers expressed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,4115,1294,1431,4797,56,1932,54,55,10184],"class_list":["post-249885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-consumer-sentiment","tag-economy","tag-inflation","tag-u-s-economy","tag-uk","tag-unemployment","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-university-of-michigan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}