U.S. Consumer Sentiment Rises While Tariffs Weigh on Outlook

U.S. consumer sentiment rose this month amid more-favorable personal finances, while tariffs weighed on Americans’ optimism for the economy and helped boost inflation expectations to a three-year high, according to a University of Michigan report Friday.

The report showed a divergence in sentiment about the present and the future, with a near-record number of households mentioning recent income gains and contrasting with a pickup in inflation expectations. The economic outlook was “much more negative” among respondents who unfavorably mentioned the new tariffs, as the Trump administration imposed tariffs on metals imports from allies and prepared for levies on $50 billion of Chinese imports.