Consumer sentiment hit its highest readings in six months as expectations sღurged heading into the presidential election.

The Michigan Consumer Sentiment index rose for the fourth straight month to hit 73.0 in the preliminary November reading. That's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:up from the 70.5 in October, as inflation worries continued to subside. The survey concluded before the Tuesday election of Republican Donald Trump, though economists have pointed to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:surges in confid𒆙ence following an election.

“Consumers are expജecting economic progress for them, including cooling inflation and lower interest rꦏates,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.

Among the biggest improvements in the survey was the expectations index, which jumped to 78.5 in November from 74.1 in the prior month, to reach its highest reading since July 2021. With belief that income will improve, consumers' expectations for their personal finances were higher by 6%, while expectations for solid long-run business conditions hit their highest levels in nearly four years. 

“It will be interesting to see if this confidence translates into stronger consumer spending,ಌ especially because so many consumers are running low on savings and credit,” Frick said. 

Inflation Expectations Sl𝄹owed to Lowest Levels Since 2020

Year-ahead 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation expectations also came in lower, down to 2.6%, the lowest reading on the closely-watched metric since December 2020. The improvement comes as the Consumer 🐷Price Index (CPI) inflation reading declin🅘ed to 2.4% in September. 

“Markets and policy makers are clos💦ely watching if inflation expectations remain anchored. This will be key for𒀰 policy decisions, especially in the next few months,” wrote Jeffrey Roach, LPL Financial chief economist.

Federal Reserve officials 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:monitor consumer in🌱flation expectations to see whether the public believes p♓rices are cooling, which can help lead to behavior that lowers inflation.  The Fed has said that inflation risks have begun to subside, leading them to begin lowering interest rates in order to shore up softness in the labor market.