The U.S. Sentiment Signal is 24 out of 100 for October, two points below the revised September score. None of its ten indicators is on track. Three are at risk and seven are off track. Household confidence weakened again, while the employment measures changed little.
Michigan's October preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 46.3 from September's final 48.1. September had been revised up from the preliminary 47.8 used in our last article. The October reading is 8.9 index points below July's 55.2. The final October result is scheduled for October 23.
The Conference Board's September Consumer Confidence Index fell to 81.9, down 6.7 points from the revised August reading of 88.6. August was initially reported at 89.4. Both major household surveys have weakened since July, though their scales differ and their levels should not be compared directly.
September unemployment was 4.2%. Average unemployment duration was 24.8 weeks. Both measures remain in the scorecard's at-risk band. Consumer prices continued to rise, with the seasonally adjusted CPI index reaching 336.3 on its 1982–84 base. That figure measures the price level; it is not an inflation rate.
Pew's October survey found that 22% of Americans were satisfied with the state of the nation, compared with 29% in its January survey. Those readings are nine months apart. This measure concerns the country's direction, not satisfaction with respondents' personal lives. We identify the Pew observations separately within the series that otherwise uses Gallup.
The October presidential approval average is 36.5%. It uses the existing arithmetic-mean calculation across available polls in a trailing 30-day window. Only two polls qualify, and the latest ended October 6. With so few observations, differences between the individual polls can have a large effect on the average.
The remaining survey readings have not changed. Congressional approval is 17% from August. Federal-government trust is 17% from September 2025. Gallup's Economic Confidence Index remains at −31 from July. Its seven-point improvement from June occurred in July. We have not verified newer readings for these measures, so they retain their original dates in the October release.
Our September article reported a composite of 28 using the data then available. With the updated observations now in the series, September re-scores to 26. The dated article remains unchanged. October's 24 is two points below that revised September figure.
We built the scorecard to compare national conditions with the country's own record over time. The surveys measure public judgments; the labor and price series measure economic conditions. Bringing them together helps show where those judgments differ from the economic data. It does not establish which policy caused a change. As of October 14, the household surveys have weakened further, and employment remains the stronger part of the October result.