A saving grace may come from less expensive prices at the pump. The average price of a gallon of gasoline fell to $3.73 on May 10 from a peak this year of $3.94 in early April, according to AAA, the nation's largest motoring organization.
Inflation Expectations
Consumers in today's confidence report said they expect an inflation rate of 3.1 percent over the next 12 months, the lowest this year, compared with 3.2 percent in the prior survey.
Over the next five years, Americans expected a 3 percent rate of inflation, compared with a previously reported 2.9 percent in the previous report.
A weight on consumers' view of the economy, employers added 115,000 new workers in April, the smallest number since October, according to figures from the Labor Department reported last week. The jobless rate also fell as people left the labor force.
"The U.S. economy is recovering but at a stubbornly slow pace," Carl Camden, president and chief executive officer of Kelly Services Inc., a staffing agency, said during a May 9 earnings call. "Large companies still aren't spending and adding jobs as quickly as would've been expected."