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Consumer Sentiment

How households feel about the economy, by survey.

49.8
Index 1966:Q1=100 · latest, Apr 2026
1980 Recession1981-82 Recession1990-91 Recession2001 RecessionGlobal Financial CrisisCOVID-19 Recession506070809010011019801990200020102020

Source: FRED · UMCSENT · series · Jan 1978 to Apr 2026 · latest-revised

Reading it. Survey-based. How households feel, which can diverge from the hard data.

About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event or policy up with a move on this chart is not evidence that it caused the move.