Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of November, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday, with sentiment falling to its lowest level in nearly two years.
The report said the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for November came in at 72.0 compared to October's final reading of 73.2.
The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting the consumer sentiment index to climb to a reading of 74.5.
With the unexpected decrease, the index fell for the fourth consecutive month, hitting its lowest level since December of 2011.
Reuters said the unexpected drop by the index came as lower-income households worried about their job prospects and financial outlooks.
Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, said, "Those being surveyed apparently don't own stocks and therefore aren't feeling any wealth effect, however specious that is."
The report showed that the index of current conditions fell to 87.2 in November from 89.9 in October, while the index of consumer expectations edged down to 62.3 from 62.5.
On the inflation front, one-year inflation expectations rose to 3.1 percent in November from 3.0 percent in October. The five-to-ten-year inflation outlook also ticked up to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent.
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