It was a bit of a light week from an economic news standpoint.

The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence survey was weaker for July, falling from 73.2 to 72.0, which wasn’t a complete surprise.  The ‘expectations’ part of the survey fell by a few points, while the ‘current conditions’ component rose.  Consumers’ expectations for future inflation have fallen between 2.7-3.0% for almost every month for the past several years.  This is in line with current inflation, and historical averages.  Of course, as with many measures, the most-often guessed expected future figure is today’s number. Read more