Personal financial outlook worsens as US consumer confidence drops to its lowest level in over three years

Deep潮 TechFlow News, November 7th, according to Jin10 Data, due to the government shutdown dragging down economic prospects and rising prices worsening personal financial expectations, U.S. consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in over three years. Preliminary data from the University of Michigan shows that the November Consumer Sentiment Index dropped from 53.6 last month to 50.3, the lowest since June 2022. The Current Conditions Index plummeted 6.3 points to a record low of 52.3, indicating increasing public concern about the impact of the government shutdown. The report notes that this overall decline in confidence is widespread across different age, income, and political groups. Although spontaneous mentions of “high prices” have increased for the fifth consecutive month, long-term inflation expectations have eased. Consumers expect prices to rise at an average annual rate of 3.6% over the next five to ten years, the lowest in three months. However, their price expectations for the next year have slightly increased. Survey director Joanne Hsu stated, “Consumers are feeling personal financial pressures from multiple sources. They also expect the labor market to continue weakening and anticipate being affected.” Concerns about unemployment surged this month, with 71% of respondents expecting the unemployment rate to rise in the next year, more than double the proportion from the same period last year.