us consumer sentiment leveled off in early july staying at subdued levels amid concerns over inflation and an upcoming economic recession the preliminary estimate of the consumer sentiment index published friday by the university of michigan increased to 511 in july from 500 in june hovering near its alltime low economists polled by the wall street journal expected the index to be unchanged from the previous month consumers remained in agreement over the deleterious effect of prices on their personal finances said joanne hsu the surveys director the share of consumers blaming inflation for eroding their living standards rose to 49 she said however americans inflation expectations improved somewhat in early july consumers see prices increasing 52 in the next year compared with the 53 advance expected in june inflation expectations for the next five years a closely watched indicator for federal reserves officials fell markedly to 28 from the 31 registered in june inflation uncertainty continued to grow with 26 of consumers expecting prices to stay the same or fall over the next 5 to 10 years up from 11 a year ago ms hsu said the index measuring americans assessment of the current economic conditions rose to 571 in july from 538 in june however views over personal finances continued to deteriorate and reached its lowest point since 2011 buying conditions for bigticket items increased owing both to consumers who cited easing supply constraints and those who believed that one should buy now to avoid future price increases ms hsu said sentiment over the shortterm outlook remained bleak according to the survey with the measure gauging shortterm expectations decreasing to 473 from 475 the prior month the surveys final reading will be published on july 29