US consumer sentiment slumps for third month in a row amid tariff chaos

Washington, March 15
US consumer sentiment in March fell for the third month in a row as concerns about the economy intensified amid tariff chaos, according to a report.

Consumer sentiment slid another 10.5 per cent this month, "with declines seen consistently across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic regions," said the University of Michigan's latest survey, posting a reading of 57.9.

The latest figure is 27.1 percent lower than that of March last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

"While current economic conditions were little changed, expectations for the future deteriorated across multiple facets of the economy, including personal finances, labour markets, inflation, business conditions, and stock markets," the survey said.

"Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors; frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future," it continued.

Year-ahead inflation expectations jumped up from 4.3 per cent last month to 4.9 per cent this month, the highest reading since November 2022 and marking three consecutive months of "unusually large" increases of 0.5 percentage points or more, the survey noted.

Long-run inflation expectations surged from 3.5 per cent in February to 3.9 per cent in March. This is the largest month-over-month increase seen since 1993, it added.

"Many consumers pointed to the significant uncertainty surrounding policies and other economic factors,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the survey. She added that the constant shifts in economic policies make it challenging for consumers to plan for the future, no matter their political views.

"Consumers across all political affiliations agree that the outlook has deteriorated since February," she mentioned.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on a broad array of goods from major trade partners such as Canada, China, and the European Union, prompting retaliatory duties from these countries. Some tariffs were initially introduced and later suspended for a month.

On March 13, Trump threatened to impose a 200 per cent tariff on European imports, including wine, cognac, and other alcoholic beverages.