University of Michigan Survey of Consumers May 2011 (Early)

Today's early release of the Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers for May indicated an improvement in consumer sentiment with a reading of 72.4 but still remaining 1.63% below the level seen last year while one year inflation expectations declined slightly to 4.4%.

The Index of Consumer Expectations (a component of the Index of Leading Economic Indicators) rose to 67.4, and the Current Economic Conditions Index declined to 80.2.

It's important to recognize that while consumer sentiment is higher than the panic laden trough level seen in late 2008, the current sentiment level is still far lower than any level seen during the 2001 tech recession and roughly equivalent to the worst seen during the early 1990s and second dip 1982 recessions.