According to reports, Joanne Hsu, the director of consumer surveys at the University of Michigan, stated that consumer confidence in the U.S. remained steady in October. The consumer confidence index recorded 55 points, roughly the same as in September. This month, consumers' views on their current personal financial situation and the business environment over the next year have improved, but expectations for future personal finances and evaluations of current buying conditions for durable goods have declined, offsetting each other. Overall, consumers believe that the economic outlook has not changed much compared to last month. Issues related to wallets, such as high prices and weak job prospects, remain the primary concerns for consumers.
Currently, consumers do not expect significant improvements in these factors. At the same time, interviews show that so far, there is little evidence that the ongoing federal government shutdown has changed consumers' views on the economy. Meanwhile, inflation expectations for the next year have decreased from 4.7% last month to 4.6% this month.