(Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment dropped sharply in early August to its lowest level in a decade as Americans gave faltering outlooks on everything from personal finances to inflation and employment, a survey showed on Friday.
The University of Michigan said its preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 70.2 in the first half of this month from a final reading of 81.2 in July. That was the lowest level since 2011 and one of the six largest drops in the past 50 years of the survey. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would remain unchanged at 81.2.
Economic growth is still expected to grow this year at its fastest pace in four decades after falling into a brief recession in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the recovery is showing some indication of cooling off and COVID-19 cases have doubled in the past two weeks to reach a six-month peak as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads rapidly across the country. Labor shortages across the service sector also persist while supply chain disruptions have continued.