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Improvement in consumer sentiment good for demand

Consumer’s optimism about the economy jumped significantly this month and an ag economist says that’s good news for the domestic demand picture. 

University of Missouri’s Scott Brown said the preliminary results for June’s Consumer Sentiment index, shows a 9 percent improvement over last month.  The index measures how optimistic consumers feel about their finances and the state of the economy.  “The economic conditions side of that index is up 6.7 percent and the index of consumer expectation is up 10.9 percent,” he says.  “All those numbers are movements in the right direction after what was such a drastic decline in consumer sentiment previously.”

He tells Brownfield he expects to see sentiment continue to improve.  “I think folks are ready to be out,” he says.  “I expect more positive to come there as long as we continue to reopen without seeing too many more cases of COVID-19 that might cause us to go back into more of a shutdown mode.”

And while consumer sentiment is on the rise, the overall index is still 20 percent below last year’s levels.

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