No surprise to readers of this site, the University of Michigan Sentiment Index declined to 66.6. Might as well have fun with the news, since the data points to yet another reality check by most Americans that we're not doing too good.

The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence index is now at a one year low.

Below is the graph of the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence from 1978. As you can see, people are pretty despondent over the economy, but amazingly enough, not as bad as the start of the 1980's recession.

The graph below is the percent change of the index on a month to month basis. One can see the summer of recovery expectation petered out as jobs did not materialize.

Reuters has some details:

The entire decline in the sentiment index was recorded among households with incomes above $75,000, while confidence among lower-income families improved, the survey showed.

Most amusing the article tries to blame tax cuts. Is a Republican political pundit writing up economic reports now?

The survey's barometer of current economic conditions was 78.4 in early September, flat versus 78.3 in August. It came in below a forecast of 79.0.

The survey's gauge of consumer expectations unexpectedly slipped to 59.1, the lowest since March 2009. This was below August's 62.9 and a predicted reading of 64.2.