Consumer confident in the United States saw a notable upswing in May, buoyed by a temporary easing in the prolonged trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. This improvement breaks a five-month streak of weakening outlooks among Americans.
As reported by Reuters, the Conference Board—a leading global economic think tank—announced on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped by 12.3 points, landing at 98.0 in May. This surge surpassed analysts’ projections, who had anticipated a smaller rise to 87.0.
Reuters also highlighted that nearly half of the survey data was gathered after May 12, the date when the U.S. government revealed a short-term arrangement to scale back tariffs on Chinese goods from 145 per cent to 30 per cent for a 90-day period.
Stephanie Guichard, a senior economist at the Conference Board, observed that the improvement in public confidence had begun even before the trade agreement was disclosed, but the news further accelerated the positive shift. However, she emphasized that concerns over tariffs still linger, with many American families wary of increasing costs and their possible consequences on the broader economy.
While the temporary trade ceasefire has sparked hope and offered short-lived reassurance to U.S. consumers, long-term uncertainty continues to loom over the outcome of ongoing tariff debates and trade policy negotiations.
