vs Last Month
+1.2 pts
Confidence rebuilding gradually.
How Americans Feel About the Economy
Michigan Consumer Sentiment
72.5
+1.2 ptsvs. last month (0.0)
Past 12 months68.0 – 76.5
1966 Baseline100.0
vs Last Year-1.8
2022 Low50.0
Sentiment ticked up to 72.5 — a steady recovery from the 57.0 March 2025 trough, but still well below pre-pandemic norms around 95–100. The "vibe-cession" gap remains stubborn.
Historical trend
Monthly index, 1966=100.
Source: FRED · UMCSENT
The long view: since 1980
The 2022 low of 50 was the worst sentiment reading in the series\' history.
ATH 112.0 · Jan 2000
Trough 50.0 · June 2022
Today 72.5
How today stacks up
vs Last Year
−1.8 pts
Below year-ago level despite recent uptick.
5-Year Average
68.5
Today is +4 above the 5-yr mean.
vs Pre-Pandemic
−25 pts
2019 average was ~97 — long way back.
Use this number
Tools for navigating consumer-driven cycles.
About the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index measures U.S. consumer attitudes about the economy. It's compiled from a monthly phone survey of about 500 households asking how respondents feel about their personal finances, business conditions, and major-purchase intentions. The index is normalized so that Q1 1966 = 100, meaning today's 72.5 means sentiment is 27.5% below that baseline year.
Why this number matters
Consumer sentiment is a leading indicator of spending behavior. When confidence rises, people spend more freely; when it falls, they retrench. The Conference Board's competing Consumer Confidence Index measures similar themes but with different weights and methodology. The Michigan index is the older series (back to 1946) and is more sensitive to inflation and political news.
Reading today's level
Sentiment hit an all-time low of 50.0 in June 2022 at the peak of inflation panic — lower than any prior reading, including 2008. It bottomed again at 57.0 in March 2025 during the tariff shock. Today's 72.5 represents a steady recovery but is still meaningfully below the 5-year average of 68.5 and far below the pre-pandemic norm of ~95–100. The "vibe-cession" effect — where sentiment lags actual economic conditions — has persisted longer than economists expected.
Related trackers
Other live numbers that move with — or against — this one.
Frequently asked
What this number means, and what it doesn't.
Five survey questions about (1) current personal financial situation, (2) expected change in finances over the next year, (3) economic conditions over the next year, (4) economic conditions over the next 5 years, and (5) buying conditions for major household items. Responses are scored and weighted, then indexed to Q1 1966 = 100.
Michigan asks more about price expectations and personal finances; the Conference Board focuses more on labor market and business conditions. Michigan is more inflation-sensitive (bigger 2022 drop); Conference Board is more recession-sensitive (bigger 2008 drop). Both are released monthly and watched by economists.
A 2023 coinage describing the disconnect between actual economic data (jobs, GDP, markets all positive) and how Americans felt about the economy (sentiment historically poor). The gap was largely driven by inflation pain that lingered in psychology even as headline inflation cooled. The gap has narrowed somewhat in 2025-26 but persists.
Michigan publishes preliminary readings around the 10th–15th of each month and final readings on the last Friday of the month — both at 10:00 AM ET. Final readings can differ from preliminary by 2–4 points based on additional survey responses collected.
Methodology
Source
Pulled from FRED · UMCSENT and cached on the EvvyTools server.
Update schedule
Refreshed automatically by our cron whenever the upstream source publishes a new value. Historical values are not revised after publication.
How we compute
Display value is the raw published number, unrounded. Comparison stats use the closest available reference date. We never edit the underlying data.