U.S. Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Holds Steady In February

(RTTNews) - After reporting a drop in consumer sentiment in the previous month, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing that sentiment unexpectedly held steady in February.

The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for February came in at 81.2, unchanged from the final January reading. Economists had been expecting the index to drop to a reading of 80.2.

"The good news is that confidence proved resilient to recent government reports of weak growth in income and employment," survey director Richard Curtin said, according to Reuters.

He added, "The not-so-good news is that the full impact on household budgets from the harsh winter has yet to be registered."

The unchanged reading on consumer sentiment came as an increase in optimism about the economic outlook offset a deterioration in the assessment of current conditions.

While the gauge of consumer expectations rose to 73.0 in February from 71.2 in January, the barometer of current economic conditions dropped to 94.0 from 96.8.

On the inflation front, one-year inflation expectations climbed to 3.3 percent in February from 3.1 percent in January, while the five-to-ten-year inflation outlook held steady at 2.9 percent.