April 11 (UPI) — A University of Michigan of Michigan survey Friday found consumer sentiment plunged 11% in April for the fourth straight month of decline.
The Friday report showed that the index of consumer sentiment fell to 50.8, worse than the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 54.6.
“This decline was, like the last month’s, pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation,” Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.
Consumer sentiment tracked by the University of Michigan has fallen more than 30% since December 2024.
It also found the share of consumers expecting rising unemployment up for five straight months, the highest it has been since 2009.
“Consumers report multiple warning signs that raise the risk of recession: expectations for business conditions, personal finances, incomes, inflation, and labor markets all continued to deteriorate this month,” Hsu’s statement said.
The consumer survey comes as President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to roil financial markets and as some Wall Street executives and economists expect the U.S. could slide into a recession within the next year.
Hsu said in her statement this lowered consumer sentiment includes a lack of labor market confidence with consumers expecting unemployment to rise this year.
“This lack of labor market confidence lies in sharp contrast to the past several years, when robust spending was supported primarily by strong labor markets and incomes,” Hsu said in her statement.
The University of Michigan survey interviews were between March 25 and April 8.
The survey found consumers also expecting inflation to rise in the year ahead.
