U.S. Consumer Sentiment Shows Unexpected Drop In June

(RTTNews) - With consumer expectations taking a hit, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of June.

The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for June came in at 81.2 compared to the final May reading of 81.9. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to a reading of 83.0.

The unexpected decrease by the index was partly due to a drop by the gauge of consumer expectations, which fell to 72.2 in June from 73.7 in May.

Meanwhile, the report also said the barometer of current economic conditions inched up to 95.4 in June from 94.5 in the previous month.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group, said, "Bottom line, after the rebound in confidence in April as the snow finally melted, we're just back to the previous trend as the 6-month average is 81.7 and the 12-month average is 80.5."

On the inflation front, one-year inflation expectations slid to 3.0 percent in June from 3.3 percent in May, while the five-to-ten-year inflation outlook rose to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent.