US consumer confidence tanks as policy uncertainty dampens outlook
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 14 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - Consumer confidence in the US dropped to its lowest levels in two and a half years this month as ongoing political seesawing in Washington raised inflation expectations and hammered sentiment.
The closely watched University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dropped to 57.9 in March, from 64.7 in February.
This was well below the consensus estimate of 63.1 and the lowest reading since November 2022. This was the third straight fall in the monthly index, putting the headline measure down 22% since December 2024.
According to the survey, drops in confidence were registered across the board, with "declines seen consistently across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic regions".
The currency economic conditions sub-index was only slightly lower at 63.5, down from 65.7 in February, though the index of consumer expectations sank to 54.2 from 64.0 with forecasts for personal finances, labour markets, inflation, business conditions and stock markets all deteriorating.
While there was a brief upswing in overall confidence since last November's presidential election, sentiment has fallen well below pre-election levels.
"Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors; frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one's policy preferences. Consumers from all three political affiliations are in agreement that the outlook has weakened since February," the University said.
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