U.S. Consumer Sentiment Declines in January

Consumer Sentiment in the United States declined marginally in January, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.

The Consumer Sentiment Index registered 79.0 in January 2021, down from 80.7 in December.

In addition, the index remain below its level in January 2020 at 99.8, prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Current Conditions component accounted for most of the decline, falling to 86.7 in January from 90.0 last month.

The Expectations Index fell slightly to 74.0 in January 2021 from 74.6 in December 2020.

The Consumer Sentiment Index has shown only relatively small variations since the pandemic started, averaging 81.5 in 2020, marginally above January’s 79.0. Needless to say, Sentiment levels were well below the average of 97.0 from 2017 to 2019.