University of Michigan Confidence Remains Elevated in Final July Reading

The final July University of Michigan Confidence Survey was able to maintain the majority of its improvement from June. The final July figure is 90.4, down from the preliminary estimate of 92.4, but considerably above the 85.3 final level for June. Lower future expectations were responsible for the softening in the July figure. Current conditions softened from 105.7 to 104.5 from the preliminary to the final reading, while the outlook fell to 81.5 from 83.9.

The number of consumers saying now is a bad time to buy a house rose the highest level since 1991.

Inflation expectations for the one-year outlook rose to 3.4% from 3.3%, while the 5-year reading held constant at 3.1% from the preliminary reading, which was an increase from the 2.9% level in June.