U. of Mich. Sentiment Index Dips in June

In the final revision of its consumer sentiment index, the University of Michigan said Friday that U.S. consumers felt slightly worse about the economy in June than they did in May.

And the economy got more bad news when the Institute of Supply Management-Chicago said that manufacturing growth in the heavily industrial Midwest slowed in June.

The ISM-Chicago factory index fell to 58.2 in June from a three-year high of 60.8 in last month.

Slowing factory outputs can translate to fewer shipments and hurt demand for trucking services.

The consumer sentiment index, which measures how consumers feel about the economy, dipped to 92.4 in June from 96.9 in May.

Bloomberg reported that analysts had expected the index to drop to 90.8 in June.

Economists involved in the survey blamed news reports of corporate accounting questions with the decline in confidence. As consumers lose faith in the economy, then they slow their spending, which could hurt truckers.

Observers found some good news in the ISM report, which said that automobile production in the Midwest increased after dipping in May. Bloomberg said analysts had expected the Chicago index to fall to 58.4 in June.

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