American consumers feel lousy about the state of the economy and even worse about the prospects for the future.
The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment fell to a final read of 58.4, 10.4 percent lower than the April reading of 65.2 and below the midmonth preliminary May score of 59.1.Consumers have been battered by record-high gas prices in May. The average price of gas made new records almost every day for the last two weeks, culminating at $4.60 a gallon on Thursday. A month ago, a gallon of gas averaged $4.134 in the U.S.
Consumer views on buying conditions for durable goods reached their worst level in May since the University of Michigan began asking about them in 1978. Home sales fell sharply in April due to high prices and rising interest rates.