U.S. consumers' economic sentiment improved in December.
The University of Michigan said on Dec. 5 that the preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment index, which reflects U.S. consumers' confidence in the economy, rose 2.3 points from the previous month to 53.3 in December.
It was the first improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in five months since July. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index has been on a steady decline this year except for May to July.
The current economic conditions index fell to 50.7 in December from 51.1 in November, while the consumer expectations index improved to 55.0 from 51.0 over the same period.
Concerns had persisted that the tariff policy of the Donald Trump administration would push up prices and lead to higher unemployment, weighing on the consumer sentiment index. However, the December survey showed that consumers' inflation worries eased somewhat.
U.S. consumers' one-year ahead expected inflation in December was 4.1%, down 0.4 percentage points from a month earlier, marking the lowest since January (3.3%).
The five-year expected inflation, which reflects consumers' long-term inflation outlook, was 3.2%, down 0.2 percentage points from a month earlier, easing to the January level (3.2%).