the numbers the final survey of us consumer sentiment in april slipped to 652 but it still marked the highest reading in three months and the first increase this year americans felt better about falling gas prices and were more optimistic about the future the index registered a preliminary 657 earlier in the month up from an 11year low of 594 in march the report is produced by the university of michigan the index hit a pandemic peak of 883 in april 2021 before beginning a long slide that coincided with the surge in inflation the increase in april was the first since the final month of 2021 big picture americans are worried about high inflation it’s rising faster than their incomes but they’ve been encouraged by a pullback in gasoline prices after they surged in march to a 14year high the strong labor market another is another source of comfort the unemployment rate has fallen almost to prepandemic levels and jobs are very easy to find many people are switching jobs and getting bigger pay raises in the process yet americans are likely to remain anxious until inflation falls the federal reserve is also raising interest rates making it more expensive to buy a new car or house or obtain a loan key details a gauge that measure what consumers think about their own financial situation and the current health of the economy rose to 694 from a preliminary 681 another measure that asks about expectations for the next six months dipped to 625 from an initial 641 but it was up sharply from 543 in march market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx fell slightly in friday trades