Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of July, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday.
The report said the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for July came in at 81.3 compared to the final June reading of 82.5.
The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the consumer sentiment index to edge up to a reading of 83.0.
"The most remarkable aspect of recent trends in consumer confidence has been its resistance to change in either direction due to very negative GDP nor very positive employment gains," survey director Richard Curtin said, according to Reuters.
He added, "This stability will provide the necessary strength for consumer spending to continue to expand, but does not support an acceleration in spending above 2.5 percent."
The unexpected decrease by the headline index reflected a deterioration in consumer expectations, as the gauge of consumer expectations fell to 71.1 in July from 73.5 in June.
On the other hand, the survey's barometer of current economic conditions rose to 97.1 in July from 96.6 in the previous month.
The report also said one-year inflation expectation rose to 3.3 percent in July from 3.1 percent in June, while the five-to-10-year inflation outlook fell to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent.
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