US consumer confidence little changed in April, price expectations tick up, University of Michigan says

Consumer confidence in the U.S. was little changed at the start of April.

That was so despite "some frustration" that the slowdown in inflation might have stalled, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dipped from a reading of 79.4 at the end of March to 77.9 for early April.

A decline in opinions around current economic conditions accounted for the bulk of the decline.

The corresponding sub-index fell from 82.5 to 79.3.

Survey director Joanne Hsu noted that the moves in the headline confidence gauge since January, within a 2.5 point range, were less than the five points needed for them to be statistically significant.

Inflation expectations however did tick slightly higher.

A sub-index tracking inflation expectations 12-months ahead rose from 2.9% to 3.1%, against a 2.3-3.0% range seen over the two years before Covid-19.

Long-run inflation expectations meanwhile rose from 2.8% to 3.0%.

"The small decline in the University of Michigan measure of sentiment in April lends some support to our forecast that consumer spending growth will be weaker in the first half of this year," said Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

"Higher gasoline prices are probably behind the rebound in consumers’ inflation expectations, although the latter are not at a level that should trigger any serious concern."