Consumer Sentiment Index

The Consumer Sentiment Index is a measure of consumer confidence in the United States that has been measured and reported by the University of Michigan every month, starting in the early 1950s.

Consumer sentiment, which often is called "consumer confidence," is cited by government officials, business executives, the media, and by ordinary citizens to describe national economic conditions. It has become so much a part of the national economic dialogue that many people think that consumer confidence has a specific and widely agreed-upon definition. Nonetheless, the definition of consumer confidence has remained elusive, since the confidence of consumers can never be directly observed; it is only the behavior of consumers that can be observed. Interest in consumer confidence is thus denned by an interest in the ...