US consumer confidence slips amid recession worries, U.Michigan says

Americans were less confident in March than during the prior month amid worries about a possible recession, the results of a closely followed survey revealed.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dipped from a reading of 67.0 for the month of February to 62.0 in March.

That was below a preliminary reading of 63.4.

Survey director, Joanne Hsu, said that turmoil in the banking sector had a limited impact.

However, there were "multiple" signs that consumers were increasingly wary of a recession.

"While sentiment fell across all demographic groups, the declines were sharpest for lower-income, less-educated, and younger consumers, as well as consumers with the top tercile of stock holdings.

"All five index components declined this month, led by a notably sharp weakening in one-year business conditions."

Inflation expectations one-year ahead slipped alongside, from 4.1% in February to 3.6% for March - the lowest since April 2021.

That was nonetheless "well above" the 2.3-3.0% range observed in the two years running up to the pandemic.

Long-run expectations for prices meanwhile printed at 2.9% for a fourth consecutive month, which was still inside the narrow 2.9-3.1% range seen over the 19 of the last 20 months.

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