Langer Research Associates

Consumer sentiment fell again this week, extending an eight-week descent that’s among its largest in nearly 36 years of ongoing data, second only to its unprecedented fall at the onset of the pandemic.

Losses are distributed across the index’s component measures. Americans’ ratings of their personal finances and the buying climate both are at eight-month lows as consumer prices, notably gasoline, remain elevated. And assessments of the national economy are at a seven-month low.

The CCI is down 1.8 points this week and 10.3 points from its pandemic high two months ago, its second-largest run of weekly losses in continuous data since December 1985, trailing only its unprecedented 28.3-point dive from mid-March to mid-May 2020. At 47.9 on its 0-100 scale, the index is its lowest since late February, with over two-fifths of its pandemic-era gains erased.

Among its gauges, the national economy subindex is down 2.4 points this week, extending a 12.1-point loss from its pandemic high eight weeks ago, its largest drop since the onset of the pandemic. At 42.7, the subindex is its lowest since late March.

The CCI subindex based on Americans’ ratings of their personal finances similarly is down 2.2 points this week and 10.1 points from its 18-month high nine weeks ago. More than half of its fitful gains since May 2020 have been reversed, with the index now at an eight-month low of 60.9.

The CCI’s final gauge, measuring views of whether or not it’s a good time to buy things, is down 9.9 points in six weeks to 40.0, a low since early February. Its recent losses have reversed nearly half of its recovery in the pandemic era.