Consumer Sentiment Plunges In September; Rate Surge Bites

[Purveyor]

Reuters
Published: Friday, 13 Sep 2013 | 10:00 AM ET

U.S. consumer sentiment fell to a five-month low in September, with Americans worried that higher interest rates will put a damper on the housing market and overall growth, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index of consumer sentiment fell to 76.8 in September, the lowest since April. That was below August's 82.1 and the 82.0 reading economists had expected this month.

Survey director Richard Curtin attributed the decline to "growing concerns that higher interest rates will diminish the pace of economic growth as well as job gains."

He added that a "cooling housing market has also affected homeowners' sense of personal financial progress."

Americans' outlook is not much sunnier. A gauge of consumer expectations fell to an eight-month low of 67.2 from 73.7 in August, with only one in four households expecting to be better off financially in the year ahead.

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http://www.cnbc.com/id/101029653

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