Consumer Sentiment Slips, But Still 'Reasonably Favorable'

By Rodrigo Campos

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in June as views by consumers with the lowest incomes soured, a survey released Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary June reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.2, down from 81.9 the month before.

It was below the median forecast of 83 among economists polled by Reuters.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%"The change from May was too small to indicate a significant loss in sentiment," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

"The small month-to-month variations aside, the main finding from the recent surveys is that consumers have maintained their expectations at reasonably favorable levels for the past six months."

The survey's barometer of current economic conditions rose to 95.4 from 94.5 and was below a forecast of 95.7.

The survey's gauge of consumer expectations slipped to 72.2 from 73.7, and missed an expected 74.6.

The survey's one-year inflation expectation was at 3 percent down from 3.3 percent, while the survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook was at 2.9 percent compared with 2.8 percent.