Consumer trust will recover despite ongoing tariff concerns
Pacer ETFS distributor President Sean O’Hara discusses the stock market’s response to tariff uncertainty with Maria in the morning.
We Consumer trust It rose in May after a halt of higher tariff rates between the US and China, and after five consecutive months of degradation, but concerns remained that it raised prices and hurt the economy.
The conference committee reported Tuesday that the consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points to 98 in May, far surpassing the modest rise to 87 predicted by Reuters-voted economists.
Approximately half of the responses to the Consumer Trust Survey were collected since May 12, when the Trump administration reached the deal Lower tariffs For 145% to 30% Chinese imports over the 90 days, in exchange for reducing China’s tariffs from 125% to 20%.
“The rebound was already visible before the US-China trade contract on May 12, but it gained momentum since then,” said Senior Economist Stephanie Gyad, a global indicator for the conference committee. “Monthly improvements were driven primarily by consumer expectations as all three components of the forecast index (business conditions, employment outlook, and future revenue) rose from the April low.”
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Consumer trust rose in May for the first time in five months. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times by Getty Images) / Getty Images)
“Consumers were not pessimistic Business conditions And the availability of employment for the next six months has regained optimism about future revenue outlook. Consumers’ ratings of the current situation have also improved,” Gichard said.
However, she added, “Consumers were more positive about current business conditions than last month, but ratings for current job availability have weakened for the fifth consecutive time.”
The conference committee’s report found that consumer trust rebounds occurred in all age groups, income groups, and political affiliations, but a decline over the past few months meant that the index’s six-month moving average was still declining.
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Consumers focused on concerns about tariffs and inflation prices. (Gabby Jones via Getty Images/Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)
Tariffs continued to become more prominent in meeting committee posting responses. Trade Transactions.
“Consumers in particular continue to voice concerns about rising prices and tariffs that will negatively affect the economy, but some hope that future trade transactions announced will support economic activity,” the report said.
“While inflation and high prices in May remained a significant concern for consumers, there were also mentions about ease of inflation and lower gas prices,” he added.
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The report shows the average for consumers Inflation expectations After spiked the spike to 7% in April, it fell to 6.5% for over 12 months.
We also asked consumers special questions about whether they have recently changed their spending and financial behavior. About a quarter of consumers said they used their savings to pay for goods and services (26.6%) and postponed major purchases (26%).
Reuters contributed to this report.