Consumer Sentiment: March Revised Slightly Higher

Bottom Line: Consumer sentiment was revised upward in late March but is still slightly below February's final level of 91.7%. Sentiment was slowly climbing for the past 5 years but has started to lose momentum in the past 4 months. Consumer Sentiment was REVISED UP by 1.0 points in late March to 91.0%, compared with market expectations for a smaller increase to 90.5%. Sentiment has deteriorated by -1.6 points over the past 3 months. With this month's slight decline, compared to February's final level of 91.7%, sentiment is 2.2% BELOW its year ago level. On a trend basis sentiment has still been rising since August 2011 amid substantial volatility. Current Conditions were UNCHANGED by at 105.6%. Current conditions are now 0.6% ABOVE their year ago level and on a trend basis have still been climbing for the past 4 years. Consumer Expectations were REVISED UP by 1.5 points to 81.5%. Expectations have been climbing slowly amid substantial volatility over the past 4 years. With this month's slight decline, compared to February's final level of 81.9%, expectations are still 4.5% BELOW their year ago level.