Investing.com - A key gauge of U.S. consumer confidence was revised higher in April, according to a survey released on Friday.
The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index was revised up from a preliminary reading of 98.8 to 97.8.
Economists had forecast a reading of 98.0.
A sub index tracking consumer expectations rose from 86.8 to 88.4, beating forecasts for a smaller increase to 86.9.
A separate gauge tracking current conditions slipped from 115.0 to 114.9. Analysts had expected no change.
Meanwhile, inflation expectations for the next 12 months was unchanged at 2.7%, while the five-year inflation expectations increased to 2.5%, from the prior 2.4%.
The survey center’s chief economist Richard Curtin noted that consumer sentiment improved slightly in the 2nd half of the month, shrinking the small overall decline for April.
“The final April figure was nearly identical to its 2018 average (98.9) -which was higher than any other yearly average since 107.6 was recorded in 2000 (which was, in turn, the highest yearly average in more than a half century),” Curtin said.
He also indicated that tax reform and trade policies continue to spark spontaneous, or unaided, comments.
“The spontaneous comments about the tax reform legislation had a positive balance of opinion, but the trade tariffs generated a negative balance of opinion,” Curtin remarked.
“Aside from the offsetting impact of Trump’s tax and tariff policies, the best simple summary of the current state of consumer confidence is that the economy is ‘as good as it gets’,” he said.
Curtin further noted that consumers and economists were somewhat apprehensive about future trends.
“Overall, the data are consistent with a growth rate of 2.7% in real personal consumption in the year ahead,” he concluded.