Consumer Sentiment: Stable, for now.

Posted July 27, 2012 by Editor

Revised July University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment data show the headline reading resolutely stable–coming in at 72.3 versus the original 72.0 (Consensus: 72.0; Decision Economics: 71.0), and against a prior-month level of 73.2.[private]

That picture offers some reassurance that the 6.1-point drop in the index suffered last month was not the beginning of a more pronounced decline–though recent history has clearly shown consumer psychology, at least as tracked in surveys, to be subject to sudden shifts.

Given that uncertain backdrop, Fed officials will, as usual, focus more on concrete measures of consumer willingness-to-buy–which do seem to have gotten more choppy lately.[/private]