Consumer Sentiment (University of Michigan)
The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index measures how households feel about their finances, business conditions, and buying plans. Running since 1952, it is one of the longest continuous reads on the US consumer — whose spending is roughly two-thirds of GDP.
Latest reading
As of May 2026, Consumer Sentiment (Sentiment index) stands at 44.8 — down from 49.8 the prior reading. Counterintuitively, sentiment works best as a contrarian indicator at extremes: all-time lows (1980, 2008, 2011, 2022) have been excellent long-term equity entry points, while euphoric highs (2000) marked late-cycle conditions. In the middle of the range, the direction of travel matters more than the level — deteriorating sentiment with rising claims is the combination to respect. Series history runs from 1952 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-07-21 · Open ↓Close ↑
Sentiment index
Next release: Jul 31, 2026
Full history
Methodology & data
Consumer Sentiment is sourced from UMich via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (University of Michigan via FRED (UMCSENT), monthly). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-07-21. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Consumer Sentiment (University of Michigan)?
The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index measures how households feel about their finances, business conditions, and buying plans. Running since 1952, it is one of the longest continuous reads on the US consumer — whose spending is roughly two-thirds of GDP.
How do you read Consumer Sentiment?
Counterintuitively, sentiment works best as a contrarian indicator at extremes: all-time lows (1980, 2008, 2011, 2022) have been excellent long-term equity entry points, while euphoric highs (2000) marked late-cycle conditions. In the middle of the range, the direction of travel matters more than the level — deteriorating sentiment with rising claims is the combination to respect.
Where does the Consumer Sentiment data come from?
University of Michigan via FRED (UMCSENT), monthly. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/consumer-sentiment.csv.
How often is Consumer Sentiment updated?
Consumer Sentiment is a monthly series from UMich, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
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