sentiment among us consumers fell at the beginning of may reversing the rebound seen in april as both the assessment of the current state of the economy and shortterm expectations deteriorated amid decadeshigh inflation the preliminary estimate of the consumer sentiment index published friday by the university of michigan decreased to 591 in may from 652 in april missing the 641 consensus forecast from economists polled by the wall street journal the deterioration in consumer sentiment reverses the improvement registered in april which came after three consecutive months of drops as inflation has weighed on moods over the last year us consumer sentiment remains at its lowest reading since 2011 and well below prepandemic levels declines in may were broadbased and visible across income age education geography and political affiliation continuing the general downward trend in sentiment over the past year said joanne hsu the surveys director the index measuring americans assessment of the current economic conditions declined to 636 in may from 694 in april falling to the lowest level since 2013 buying conditions for durable goods reached its lowest reading since the question began appearing on the survey in 1978 primarily due to high prices ms hsu said americans inflation expectations were unchanged in may compared with april consumers expect prices to increase 54 in the next year while they anticipate a 3 rise in the next five years the index measuring shortterm expectations which reflects the balance of respondents anticipating improved business conditions in the next six months fell to 563 in may from 625 in april the surveys final reading will be published on may 27