2026-10-16
18 分钟Americans are really unhappy about the economy.
But just how unhappy?
Well, there's actually data on that.
Because economists like to measure everything, even feelings.
They put out a survey where they go out and they ask questions by a bunch of people.
That's our colleague Jean Whalen.
She's talking about something called the Consumer Sentiment Index,
which is put together every month by the University of Michigan.
They're pretty simple questions.
Do you feel better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?
And then looking ahead, do you think that a year from now you'll be better off or worse off financially?
Just kind of broad questions like that.
According to this survey, consumer sentiment reached its lowest point ever earlier this year.
And it's barely budged since.
So the index results in September were pretty low.
The index landed at 48.1.
And it's been falling generally throughout this year.
So things are trending downward.
Economists pay close attention to consumer sentiment because it usually predicts how much people are willing to spend.
When people feel good about the economy, they typically spend more.