ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan full report on consumer sentiment levels Friday indicated sentiment slipped in October on worries over energy prices and jobs.
The monthly report on consumer sentiment fell to a reading of 91.7 in October, from 94.2 in September. In the preliminary October data, the index had been reported at 87.5.
"The overall decline in confidence was small as consumers concluded by the end of October that the surge in gas prices was nearly over and their apprehensions about future job growth lessened," said Richard Curtin, director of the U-M Surveys of Consumers. He said consumers do not believe the past levels of jobs or gas prices will be regained in the near future.
The report's components were mixed. The private research group's current conditions index was said to have moved to 104, after 103.7 the month before.
Meanwhile, the expectations index, which seeks to describe attitudes about future of the economy, declined to 83.8 in October, after hitting 88 in September.
The report comes on the heels of the Conference Board's more broadly based index of consumer sentiment, also for October, which weakened on worries about the jobs market and on concern over the future.
