Our most recent book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The second Trump administration has been full of ominous developments -- now including a war in the Middle East.
Consumer sentiment fell in April to the lowest level recorded in the 70-plus-year history of the University of Michigan’s survey, evidence of Americans’ concerns that the Iran war will hit the domestic economy.
The survey’s initial April reading came in at 47.6, versus 53.3 in March. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a drop to 52. The April reading is below the previous low point of 50 recorded in June 2022, when the economy was facing searing inflation.
The initial April results are based almost entirely on interviews that took place between March 24 and April 6, before a tentative cease-fire took hold. The survey will be updated with a final April reading later this month, based on more recent responses.
The darker economic mood was widespread across people of different ages, income levels and political affiliations, said Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director. “Many consumers blame the Iran conflict for unfavorable changes to the economy,” she said.
