The
final reading for the November Reuters/Michigan index of consumer sentiment
came in at 67.4 compared to a preliminary reading of 66.8 and the October final
reading of 71.7. This was the lowest figure since November 2011.
Economists
had forecast the index to be revised to 66.9.
The
latest Surveys of Consumers of the University of Michigan also revealed that
the index of consumer expectations plunged 6.5 percent m-o-m to 63.5 from October’s
final reading of 67.9, while the index of the current economic conditions declined
5.3 percent m-o-m to 73.6 from October’s final reading of 77.7.
Commenting
on the November data, Richard Curtin, Surveys of Consumers' chief economist,
noted that the decline in consumer optimism was due to “a combination of
rapidly escalating inflation combined with the absence of federal policies that
would effectively redress the inflationary damage to household budgets”.