U.S. January Preliminary Michigan CSI - A little less weak
January’s preliminary Michigan CSI of 54.0 is still quite weak, but is up from 52.9 and the highest since September.
Both current conditions and expectations increased, but current conditions have seen a significant deterioration in the last three months while expectations are the highest since August. This may reflect a slower labor market in the former and Fed easing in the latter.
The 1-year inflation expectation of 4.2% in unchanged from December but down from 4.5% in November. The 5-10 year view rose to 3.4% from 3.2% but this simply returns the pace to that seen in November.
There remains a massive divide in sentiment according to political opinion, though January data unusually showed improvement from both Democrats and Republicans, partially offset by a dip in the sentiment of independents.
