Preliminary Results for December 2025
| Dec | Nov | Dec | M-M | Y-Y | |
| 2025 | 2025 | 2024 | Change | Change | |
| Index of Consumer Sentiment | 53.3 | 51.0 | 74.0 | +4.5% | -28.0% |
| Current Economic Conditions | 50.7 | 51.1 | 75.1 | -0.8% | -32.5% |
| Index of Consumer Expectations | 55.0 | 51.0 | 73.3 | +7.8% | -25.0% |
Read our special reports:
12/5/25 December Preliminary 2025 Update: Current versus Pre-Pandemic Long-Run Inflation Expectations
11/21/25 National Estimates Continue to Align With Views of Independents
Next data release: Friday, December 19, 2025 for Final December data at 10am ET
Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu
Consumer sentiment lifted 2.3 index points in early December, within the margin of error. This month’s increase was concentrated primarily among younger consumers. Overall, while views of current conditions were little changed, expectations improved, led by a 13% rise in expected personal finances, with improvements visible across age, income, education, and political affiliation. Still, December’s reading on expected personal finances is nearly 12% below the beginning of the year. Similarly, labor market expectations improved a touch but remained relatively dismal. Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions, but the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices.
Looking to the future, year-ahead inflation expectations decreased from 4.5% last month to 4.1% this month, the lowest reading since January 2025. This marks four consecutive months of declines, but short-run inflation expectations are still above the 3.3% seen in January. Long-run inflation expectations softened from 3.4% last month to 3.2% in December, matching the January 2025 reading. In comparison, 2024 readings ranged between 2.8 and 3.2%, while the readings in 2019 and 2020 were below 2.8%. Inflation uncertainty over both time horizons—as measured by the interquartile range of responses—remains higher than January of this year.
Looking to the future, year-ahead inflation expectations decreased from 4.5% last month to 4.1% this month, the lowest reading since January 2025. This marks four consecutive months of declines, but short-run inflation expectations are still above the 3.3% seen in January. Long-run inflation expectations softened from 3.4% last month to 3.2% in December, matching the January 2025 reading. In comparison, 2024 readings ranged between 2.8 and 3.2%, while the readings in 2019 and 2020 were below 2.8%. Inflation uncertainty over both time horizons—as measured by the interquartile range of responses—remains higher than January of this year.