US Consumer Sentiment Rebounds in June As Tariff Tensions Ease, Survey Suggests

Despite persistent, but calming, inflationary pressure and other macroeconomic concerns, American consumers appear to be more optimistic than they have been since 2024 drew to a close.

According to a University of Michigan Survey of Consumers released June 13, U.S. consumer sentiment improved by 15.9% from May’s index reading of 52.2, to 60.5 — the highest recorded figure since December of 2024. And although that statistic still fell 20% short of December’s reading from last year — attributed to a post-election bump, per Survey of Consumers director Joanne Hsu — it does imply at least some degree of broad optimism as compared to readings this year so far.

“Consumer sentiment improved for the first time in six months, climbing 16% from last month but remaining about 20% below December 2024, when sentiment had exhibited a post-election bump. These trends were unanimous across the distributions of age, income, wealth, political party, and geographic region. Moreover, all five index components rose, with a particularly steep increase for short and long-run expected business conditions, consistent with a perceived easing of pressures from tariffs. Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” Hsu stated.

“However, consumers still perceive wide-ranging downside risks to the economy. Their views of business conditions, personal finances, buying conditions for big ticket items, labor markets, and stock markets all remain well below six months ago in December 2024. Despite this month’s notable improvement, consumers remain guarded and concerned about the trajectory of the economy,” she added.

While Consumer Sentiment Improves, Overall Opinions on Economy Remain Negative Versus Late 2024 Polling

One caveat to explore, as mentioned by Hsu: While the three metrics measured — consumer sentiment, opinions on current economic conditions, and consumer expectations for the future — all recorded improvements on a month-to-month basis (+15.9%, +8.1%, and +21.9%, respectively), all three also exhibited continued year-over-year falls (-11.3%, -3.3%, and -16.1%, respectively).

The university’s report follows consumer price index data indicating a slow flattening of inflationary pressure, which may be having a positive pull on U.S. consumer opinions more generally. In May, the index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) increased just 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis, versus 0.2% in April, resting at 2.4% (without seasonal adjustment) on a year-over-year basis.

While that remains just outside of the Federal Reserve’s established target of 2% annual inflation, it remains far away from the 9.1% annual high experienced as of June 2022.