US consumer confidence is little changed in August, U.Michigan says

Consumer confidence in the U.S. was little changed at the start of August, the results of a closely followed survey revealed.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dipped from a reading of 71.6 for July to 71.2 at the start of August.

Economists had penciled in a print of 71.0.

"At 71.2 index points, sentiment is now about 42% above the all-time historic low reached in June of 2022 and is approaching the historical average reading of 86, survey director Joanne Hsu said.

"In general, consumers perceived few material differences in the economic environment from last month, but they saw substantial improvements relative to just three months ago."

Price expectations were also little changed with those for the year ahead ticking lower by a tenth of a percentage point to 3.3%.

For over the longer term, price gains were put at 2.9%, the same as during the previous month.

Nonetheless, Hsu said that the long-run expectations remained "elevated" in comparison to the 2.2-2.6% range seen over the two years before the pandemic hit.

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