Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of May, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday.
The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for May came in at 81.8, down from the final April reading of 84.1.
The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting the consumer sentiment index to edge up to 84.5.
"The main concern behind the small May loss involved dispiriting trends in wages," survey director Richard Curtin said, according to Reuters.
The report showed that the barometer of current economic conditions fell to 95.1 in May from 98.7 in April, while the gauge of consumer expectations dipped to 73.2 from 74.7.
On the inflation front, one-year inflation expectations remained unchanged at 3.2 percent. The five-to-ten-year inflation outlook edged down to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com