Today's final release of the Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers for March indicated a decline in consumer sentiment with a reading of 67.5 falling 8.29% below the level seen last year while inflation expectations jumped notably to 4.6%.The Index of Consumer Expectations (a component of the Index of Leading Economic Indicators) plunged to 57.9, and the Current Economic Conditions Index fell to 82.5.
It's important to recognize that while consumer sentiment is still higher than the panic laden trough level seen in late 2008, the current sentiment level is still far lower than any level seen during the 2001 tech recession and roughly equivalent to the worst seen during the early 1990s and second dip 1982 recessions.
