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U.S. consumer confidence eases in June

15 June 2013 04:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. consumer confidence fell from a six-year high in June as Americans were gloomier on current financial conditions, showed a consumer sentiment index released on Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment declined to 82.7 in May from 84.5 in the previous month that was the highest level since July 2007, the monthly Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index showed.

The fresh figure fell short of economists' estimate of 84.5.

The decrease of the index was centered in the index of current conditions. This component reflecting Americans' perceptions of their financial situation and whether they consider it a good time to buy big-ticket items like cars dipped to 92.1 in June from 98 in May.

But the component gauging consumer expectations for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer spending, climbed to 76.7 in June from 75.8 in May, the highest since last November.

Consumer sentiment gives signals about spending, which makes up about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. With the sentiment at a six- year high in May, the U.S. retail sales rose 0.6 percent from April, the fastest rate in three months.

The index averaged 64.2 during the last recession from December 2007 to June 2009, and was at 89 in the five years leading up to the recession.

Survey results of consumer gauge are released twice each month, one preliminary and the other final.