


Consumer sentiment soured in a preliminary reading for August, and expectations for inflation increased, both worrying signs for President Donald Trump as he forges ahead with his tariff agenda.
Consumer sentiment fell to 58.6, down from 61.7 in July and below expectations from economists, according to the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index preliminary reading for August. Consumer sentiment is now down 13.7% from a year ago. August marked the first time sentiment had fallen since April.
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The report also showed that consumers are increasingly thinking that inflation will increase. Year-ahead inflation expectations ticked up to 4.9% from 4.5% the month before. That is notably higher than the current inflation rate and might indicate that consumers expect Trump’s tariff agenda to raise prices in the coming months.
The report comes as Trump’s overall and economic approval ratings have dipped. Some 54% disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance, according to a tracker by the Economist, down from the start of the year.
Also, Trump’s approval rating for his handling of jobs and the economy has dropped from overall approval in January to a more than 10% deficit in approval as of August.
The increase in inflation expectations was seen across political affiliations and multiple demographic groups, according to the survey.
“Overall, consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April when reciprocal tariffs were announced and then paused,” said Joanne Hsu, the survey director. “However, consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.”
Despite the uptick in inflation expectations, the numbers are still well below the peaks notched in April and May, when Trump first unveiled his tariff agenda and there were concerns about a big rise in inflation or recession.
The consumer price index showed inflation holding steady at 2.7% for the year ending in July. However, inflation gauged by the producer price index shot up to 3.3% for the year ending in July, marking the largest annual increase since February.
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The PPI report raised fears that the worst tariff-related price increases could be around the corner.
“Today’s PPI report is the final confirmation that inflation is heading our way,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWBONDS. “The inflation simmering on the back burner has been brought forward and is clearly starting to boil.”