Consumer Sentiment
University of Michigan: Consumer Sentiment
The number, plainly.
The University of Michigan's monthly survey of how households feel about their finances and the economy.
Higher, lower, and what each means.
Low means people are worried and tend to defer big purchases; high means they are willing to spend. It moves on prices and headlines more than on data.
A reading is not a verdict. The Scan phase of Woodring’s Loop collects the signal; the Story phase asks what futures it is consistent with, and only the Stake phase turns that into a decision. This page does the first part.
The line in your 2027 plan.
Tests: the discretionary-spending assumption in the consumer revenue line.
Write the assumption down, name the reading that would break it, and put a date on when it has to be argued again. That is the 18-Month Sunset applied to one line of a budget. The Last Annual Planshows what this season’s moves have already done to the common ones.
The last 36 readings.
Most recent first. Every value is as published by FRED at the time of the last refresh; FRED revises some series after the fact.
| Date | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | 48.10 | −7.0% |
| Aug 1, 2026 | 51.70 | −6.3% |
| Jul 1, 2026 | 55.20 | +11.5% |
| Jun 1, 2026 | 49.50 | +10.5% |
| May 1, 2026 | 44.80 | −10.0% |
| Apr 1, 2026 | 49.80 | −6.6% |
| Mar 1, 2026 | 53.30 | −5.8% |
| Feb 1, 2026 | 56.60 | +0.4% |
| Jan 1, 2026 | 56.40 | +6.6% |
| Dec 1, 2025 | 52.90 | +3.7% |
| Nov 1, 2025 | 51.00 | −4.9% |
| Oct 1, 2025 | 53.60 | −2.7% |
| Sep 1, 2025 | 55.10 | −5.3% |
| Aug 1, 2025 | 58.20 | −5.7% |
| Jul 1, 2025 | 61.70 | +1.6% |
| Jun 1, 2025 | 60.70 | +16.3% |
| May 1, 2025 | 52.20 | Unchanged |
| Apr 1, 2025 | 52.20 | −8.4% |
| Mar 1, 2025 | 57.00 | −11.9% |
| Feb 1, 2025 | 64.70 | −9.8% |
| Jan 1, 2025 | 71.70 | −3.1% |
| Dec 1, 2024 | 74.00 | +3.1% |
| Nov 1, 2024 | 71.80 | +1.8% |
| Oct 1, 2024 | 70.50 | +0.6% |
| Sep 1, 2024 | 70.10 | +3.2% |
| Aug 1, 2024 | 67.90 | +2.3% |
| Jul 1, 2024 | 66.40 | −2.6% |
| Jun 1, 2024 | 68.20 | −1.3% |
| May 1, 2024 | 69.10 | −10.5% |
| Apr 1, 2024 | 77.20 | −2.8% |
| Mar 1, 2024 | 79.40 | +3.3% |
| Feb 1, 2024 | 76.90 | −2.7% |
| Jan 1, 2024 | 79.00 | +13.3% |
| Dec 1, 2023 | 69.70 | +13.7% |
| Nov 1, 2023 | 61.30 | −3.9% |
| Oct 1, 2023 | 63.80 | — |
When Consumer Sentiment moves, know what it tests.
The monthly Signal Layer covers every series in the library: what moved, which planning assumptions it tests, and what a continuous-planning team does about it. One email a month. Unsubscribe in one click.
Where the number comes from.
University of Michigan: Consumer Sentiment (UMCSENT), retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UMCSENT. Refreshed daily; 120 readings on file from Oct 1, 2016 to Sep 1, 2026.
Predictive Planning Institute, Signal Library: Consumer Sentiment (UMCSENT). predictiveplanning.com/signals/UMCSENT. Data via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Value 48.10 as of Sep 1, 2026.