Consumer sentiment plunged in the early weeks of February as consumers lost faith in the Biden administration’s economic policies, inflation rose to the worst level in 40 years, and the long-term economic outlook of American households fell to its least favorable level in a decade.
The University of Michigan’s measure of consumer sentiment crashed to an initial February reading of 61.7, from January’s level of 67.2, the lowest reading since October of 2011.
Economists were expecting a reading of 67, so this was a much bigger decline than anticipated.
“Sentiment continued its downward descent, reaching its worst level in a decade, falling a stunning 8.2 percent from last month and 19.7 percent from last February,” said Richard Curtin, the chief economist of the consumer sentiment survey.
The component of the index that measures consumers’ views of current…
