Consumer Sentiment Better Than Expected

Consumer sentiment has been bruised this month but improved in the last two weeks, as Americans have proved resilient to the merciless stock market sell-off.

But even as auto-buying incentives and the ability to refinance mortgages at lower rates boosted their assessment of current conditions, consumers continued to fret about the economy’s outlook.

The University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for July fell to its lowest level since November 2001, to 88.1 from 92.4 in June, market sources said. That was better than economists’ forecasts for 86.5, where the index stood at mid-month.

The current-conditions index, intended to measure Americans’ perception of their financial situation and their willingness to spend on household items such as furniture, was 99.3, better than a previously reported 99. It was 99.5 in June.

The expectations index, based on optimism about the next one to five years, was 81, down from 87.9 in June but better than the previously reported 78.5 for this month.