Consumers felt better about inflation in September, with some seeing improved prices for big-ticket items, a closely watched sentiment survey showed.🍎

The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index moved up to 69 in the preliminary September results, moving higher for the second straight month as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:survey res🍷pondents had ꦯbetter expectations for both the economy and their personal finances. Economists surveyed by TheWall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires were expecting a more modest 68.4.

“The gain was led by an improvement in buying conditions for durables, driven by more favorable prices as perceived by consumers,”  said Joanne H💞su, director of the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. 

Hsu said that consumers perceived some softening in the labor market. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Job growth in ꧙August was lower-than-expected. 

“Consumers are dialed in to the economy more than usual, feeling the effects of the lower goods prices and the softening jobs market,” said Robert Frick, c😼orporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.

Inflationꦆ Expectations Move Lower for Fourth Month

Consumer sentiment has been lifted by a decline in inflation and now stands roughly 40% higher than its June 2022 low, when inflation as measured by the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Consumer Price Index (CPI) peaked at more than 9%. The August CPI, the most recent reading, has 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:𒊎moderated to an annual rate of 2.5%.

Inflation expectations fell for a fourth straight month, with consumers now seeing prices rising 2.7% over the next year, the lowest reading since December 2020 and aroജund pre-pandemic levels.

Federal Reserve officials closely follow consumer inflation expectations, which can turn into self-fulfilling projections as wage-p🐭ayers and price-setters will act on where they perceive prices are going to go. 

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that consumers’ perceptions of inflation is one reason that price pressures have been easing this year. Economists 🌱believe that the c🐬entral bank will lower interest rates at its meeting next week.

Compared to the Conference Board’s similar 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Consumer Confidence Index survey, which is more sensitive to the labor market, the Michigan survey is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mor🙈e influenced by prices and inflation.