The early reading of UMich Consumer Sentiment for April fell -10.9% MoM to 50.8, below the 54.5 reading that was expected.

• The Current Economic Conditions index fell -11.4% MoM, and Index of Consumer Expectations fell -10.3% MoM.
• Sentiment has now lost more than -30% since December 2024 after four straight months of declines. This decline was, like the last month’s, pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation.

• The share of consumers expecting unemployment to rise in the year ahead increased for the fifth consecutive month and is now more than double the November 2024 reading and the highest since 2009.

Year-ahead inflation expectations surged from 5.0% last month to 6.7% this month, the highest reading since 1981 and marking four consecutive months of unusually large increases of 0.5 ppts or more.

• This month’s rise was seen across all three political affiliations.
• Long-run inflation expectations climbed from 4.1% in March to 4.4% in April, reflecting a particularly large jump among independents.