Michigan (dpa-AFX) – Burdened by inflation fears, the Consumer climate in the United States fell to a ten-year low in November. The Consumer Sense Index collected by the University of Michigan was down 4.9 points to 66.8 points compared to the previous month, the university announced Friday after an initial survey. This is the lowest level since November 2011. However, analysts expected a 72.5-point increase.

Decreasing confidence “reflects rising inflation and rising consumer confidence, so no effective measures have yet been developed to reduce the resulting inflation,” said Richard Curtin, head of the survey. Rising costs for food, gasoline and housing will weaken consumer purchasing power despite strong wage growth. Consumers expect inflation to rise to 4.9 percent next year. This is the highest level since 2008.

Surprisingly, the assessment of the current situation of the surveyed consumers was considerably cloudy. Surprisingly, consumer expectations fell.

The University of Michigan indicator is a measure of the buying behavior of American consumers. This is based on a survey of about 500 households by telephone. The financial and economic assessment of the situation and the expectations associated with it are questioned.

/ jsl / he