Differences in consumer sentiment by income are beginning to increase again as overall confidence picks up in the U.S., according to data from Morning Consult.
What's happening: While overall consumer confidence has returned to its mid-March levels, Americans who earn less than $50,000 a year are trailing badly compared to other income groups and to their earlier confidence levels.
- Americans at the bottom income tier are still just six points above their lowest levels of confidence, plumbed during the tail end of the stock market crash in early April, and are 20 points below their mid-March levels.
- Americans at the top income tier have bounced 19 points from their lowest levels of confidence and are just 12 points from the March highs as of Aug. 28.