(RTTNews) - Consumer sentiment is rebounding in September, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary report on sentiment in the month, with the recent drop in energy prices offsetting concerns about inflation.

The report showed that the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index jumped to 73.1 in September from 63.0 in August. Economists had been expecting the index to show a much more modest increase to a reading of 64.0.

With the increase, which marked the biggest one-month increase since January of 2004, the index rose to its highest level since January of 2008.

The much bigger than expected increase by the index was partly due to a notable improvement in consumers’ expectations, with the expectations index surging up to 70.9 in September from 57.9 in August. The current conditions index edged up to 76.5 from 71.0.

As mentioned above, the report also showed improvement in the outlook for inflation, with consumers’ one-year inflation expectations falling to 3.6 percent from 4.8 percent, while five-year expectations edged down to 2.9 percent from 3.2 percent.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Forex, Releases, USA.

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