American consumers are more pessimistic about the economy than at any time in recorded history.
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 47.6 in preliminary April 2026 readings released Friday—a 10.7% drop from March’s 53.3 and the lowest reading in the survey’s 74-year history. The figure blew past the prior record low of 50, set in June 2022 during the worst of the post-pandemic inflation crisis under President Biden, when gas prices and grocery bills were squeezing households nationwide. Three of the lowest consumer sentiment readings ever recorded have now occurred within the past nine months of Trump’s second term.
