Consumer Sentiment Rebounds as Gasoline Prices Ease, Inflation Expectations Fall

12:42 PM EDT, 06/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US consumer sentiment has rebounded in June as gasoline prices eased, while the inflation outlook dropped, the University of Michigan's preliminary survey showed Friday.

The main sentiment index rose 9.2% sequentially to 48.9 this month, following three consecutive drops. The consensus was for a 46 print in a Bloomberg poll.

Consumers experienced "some relief due to the early-month easing in gasoline prices," Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement. "Lower-income consumers exhibited a particularly strong sentiment increase, consistent with the fact that gasoline comprises a larger share of their budgets."

US retail gasoline prices averaged $4.108 per gallon Friday, compared with $4.22 a week ago and $4.504 a month ago, according to data from AAA, a travel organization that tracks fuel prices in the country.

The year-ahead inflation outlook dropped to 4.6% this month from 4.8% in May, while the five-year forecast fell to 3.4% from 3.9%, the University of Michigan survey showed.

The gauge for current economic conditions increased 5.7% month over month to 48.4 in June, while the expectations measure surged nearly 12% to 49.3. On an annual basis, both metrics are down by double-digit percentages, according to the report.

"(Consumers) feel burdened by the recent escalation in inflation and worry that higher inflation could remain stubborn going forward, particularly in the short run," Hsu said.

Earlier in the week, official data showed that US annual inflation accelerated to the highest in about three years last month, fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for some time.

"Sentiment and spending have become disconnected," Grace Zwemmer, US economist at Oxford Economics, said in remarks e-mailed to MT Newswires Friday. "Still, higher gas prices will take a bite out of consumers' real disposable incomes, forcing them to reel in spending."

Stability in inflation expectations will help the Fed to see the oil price shock to inflation amid the Middle East conflict as "a one-off," Zwemmer said.

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