According to Bloomberg's report on the 14th, the University of Michigan announced that the preliminary consumer confidence index for August 2026 was 51.0. This is lower than the July figure of 55.2, representing a month-over-month decrease of 7.6% and a year-over-year decrease of 12.4%.
Consumers expect prices to rise by 4.3% in the coming year, a slight increase from last month. Consumers believe that the average annual price increase will reach 3.3% over the next 5 to 10 years.
Surveys show that people’s expectations regarding the job market have not changed much since the beginning of the year. There is a growing concern about inflation, and attention to unemployment has decreased.
Reports indicate that American families are facing dual pressures of rising prices and weak salary growth. Earlier this week, official data showed that the actual average hourly wage in July decreased by 0.2% year-on-year.
