EmailThe final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for September increased from 57.8 in the preliminary reading to 59.4. The Briefing.com consensus expected the Consumer Sentiment Index to fall to 57.5.
Both the current conditions and the economic outlook indices were revised higher in the final reading. The current conditions index increased from 74.5 in the preliminary reading to 74.9 in the final report. This is up from 68.7 in August. The expectations index rose from 47.0 to 49.4.
Sentiment is typically correlated with employment, gasoline prices, equity prices, and media reports. With the exception of lower gasoline prices, the remaining underlying fundamentals all weakened in September. This should have resulted in a weaker sentiment level. However, the August sentiment level was influenced by the division in Congress on passing a debt ceiling extension. Those feelings seem to have passed and the index returned to a more normal level.
Thus, the increase in sentiment in September does not appear to be due to stronger economic fundamentals.
