Consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell sharply as stocks declined and higher gasoline and oil prices fed fears about rising inflation in March, data from the University of Michigan’s monthly survey showed Friday.
The headline consumer sentiment index dropped 5.8 percent from a month earlier to 53.3, the lowest reading of the year. Compared with a year ago, the index is down 6.5 percent.
“Declines were seen across age and political party. Consumers with middle and higher incomes and stock wealth, buffeted by both escalating gas prices and volatile financial markets in the wake of the Iran conflict, exhibited particularly large drops in sentiment,” Joanne Hsu, the diretor of the survey, said in a statement.
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The decline was mostly in the expectations for the U.S. economy. The forward-looking expectations index fell by 8.7 percent and the year-ahead inflation expectation climbed to 3.8 percent, up from 3.5 percent.
The index measuring
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