WASHINGTON (MNI) – The final reading of U.S. consumer sentiment in
April rose by 0.2 points, a shade above expectations, according to the
Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey released
Friday.
The index came in at 69.8 — above median expectations of 69.6 —
vs. the preliminary reading of 69.6 reported earlier this month and
March’s final reading of 67.5. The consumer sentiment index was 77.5 in
February and 74.2 in January.
The index’s final reading for current conditions in April was
reported at 82.5, vs. 82.7 in the preliminary report. This compares to
82.5 in March and February’s final reading of 86.9.
Final expectations rose to 61.6 vs. 61.2 in the first half of
April, after coming in at 57.9 last month and 71.6 in February.
Consumers’ preliminary 1-year inflation expectations for April was
4.6, unchanged vs. the preliminary reading and March’s expectation.
Five-year inflation expectations were also unchanged at 2.9% from the
first half of April.
U.S. GDP Thursday was estimated to have risen at a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 1.8% in the first quarter — a significant
slowdown from the 3.1% increase in the fourth quarter 2010
The slowdown in U.S. economic expansion was attributed to higher
prices, especially for gasoline and food, which squeezed spending by
Americans. Within the data, higher energy and food prices pushed the
inflation measure closely monitored by the Federal Reserve up to 3.8% —
the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2008.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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