U.S. Consumer Sentiment Falls to 49.8 in April Amid Mixed Economic Signals

U.S. 8. The figure is the lowest in the survey’s 74-year history. Three of the four lowest consumer sentiment readings ever recorded have occurred in the past nine months as of April 2026.

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said the data reflects a concrete financial strain. “Americans are literally getting squeezed now. It’s not just a vibe, it’s a financial reality,” she said.

Navy Federal Credit Union member data captures spending patterns across more than 14 million households, many of them military and working-class families. 6% over the past year according to the April 2026 jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Inflation in April 2026 is expected to come in around 4%.

55 a gallon. Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said real average hourly earnings will likely register flat to negative for April 2026 and definitely negative in May 2026. -Israeli war in Iran that has pushed fuel costs higher.

March retail sales receipts were up 4% year over year. Mark Mathews, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, said retail spending is bifurcated with higher-income households accounting for the majority. A research note released this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found a K-shaped pattern at the pump.

Higher-income households are buying roughly the same amount of gasoline they bought before the war while lower-income households cut back sharply and are substituting public transit. Bank of America research showed the highest gap between wage growth for higher-income households versus lower- and middle-income households since 2015.

Long said there is no recession for people earning $150,000 or more in New York or $125,000 or more elsewhere and they continue to book summer vacations.

Disney confirmed that its domestic park bookings and cruise reservations remained strong through the second half of 2026. Long said Disney’s strong bookings represent the $150,000-and-above crowd. “The lower tier was already strained and now it’s really hard, with more people applying for personal loans or turning to credit cards because they aren’t making it paycheck to paycheck,” she said.

The S&P 500 touched 7,400 for the first time on Friday. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, flagged that muted wage growth in the April jobs report dampens wage-price spiral fears and amplifies the concern that labor’s share of GDP has been trending down for two decades and recently hit its lowest level in BLS history.

U.S. Economy added 115,000 jobs in April 2026. 3% in April 2026. Hiring is broader than it has been in months as of April 2026. A 2024 Richmond Fed study found that people feel 31% better about the economy than the data would suggest if their party controls the White House.

@FortuneMagazine reported that economists have noted for years that the gap between what consumers say in surveys and what they actually do has widened.