- Richard Curtin, the chief economist of the survey
US consumers' mood brightened at the end of the month, reinforcing the view the world's number one economy was likely to gather momentum in the foreseeable future. The University of Michigan's final reading of the consumer sentiment index increased to 96.1 points, compared with the markets' expectations for 94.6 and following a revised reading of 90.7 points in May. The final June reading was not only the second highest so far this year, but also marked the second best print since January 2007, as the gauge saw its strongest monthly increase since December 2013.
The breakdown of the data showed consumers' assessment of the current state of the economy improved markedly as did their outlook, while they expected prices to climb a bit slower in the coming months. The index of expected conditions recovered to 87.8 points after falling to the lowest level in six months of 84.2 in May. The gauge measuring current circumstances also came out near the highest levels of the recovery at 108.9 points, the 8.1 point increase seen in the sub-index in June was the biggest monthly advance in two-and-a-half years. In the next twelve months, households anticipate inflation to remain at 2.7%, a notch slower than what they had expected in May. The inflation expectations for the next five years declined to 2.6%.
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