US consumer confidence rose in August, helped by a slowing pace of inflation, according to the final estimate released Friday by the University of Michigan. The index stood at 58.2 points, up 13% from July, and well above the 55.3 points forecast by a consensus of analysts.
“The rise in consumer confidence is seen across all age, education, wage, geographic origin and political affiliation categories and can be attributed to the recent deceleration in inflationsaid Joanne Hsu, director of the index, in a statement. “Consumers with the lowest wages, who have fewer resources to protect themselves from inflation, reported an increase in their confidence in all components of the indicatorsaid Ms. Hsu.
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After hitting a more than 40-year high of 9.1% in June, US one-year inflation slowed in July to 8.5%, according to the consumer price index. CPI published on August 10. It is generally higher than the PCE index – unveiled on Friday and favored by the Federal Reserve – reporting a price increase of 6.3% in July, against 6.8% in June.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pledged Friday at the Jackson Hole (Wyoming) central bankers’ conference to continue to fight rising prices, warning that households and businesses would “sufferbut that inaction would have much more serious consequences for the economy.
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