Consumer sentiment increased in June for the first time in six months, reported the Associated Press. This is “the latest sign that Americans’ views of the economy have improved as inflation has stayed tame and the Trump administration has reached a truce in its trade fight with China,” the outlet wrote.

The preliminary reading for May of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index jumped 16% from 52.2 to 60.5. The large increase “followed steady drops that left the preliminary number last month at the second-lowest level in the nearly 75-year history of the survey. Consumer sentiment is still down 20% compared with December 2024,” reported AP.

“Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in a written statement. “However, consumers still perceive wide-ranging downside risks to the economy.”

Meanwhile the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that retail sales continued to grow last month despite consumers slowing down on stocking up in preparation of tariffs, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor.

“The data for May indicates that the pull-forward in consumer demand ahead of tariffs is likely dissipating,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “While momentum remains, the nature of consumer spending is shifting as economic uncertainty increases. Consumer fundamentals haven’t been damaged yet, and a slowing-but-still-growing job market is supporting household priorities ahead of any meaningful price increases in the coming months.”

Per the NRF, total retail sales, excluding automobiles and gasoline, were up 0.49% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 4.44% unadjusted year over year in May. That compared with increases of 0.72% month over month and 6.76% year over year in April.

Total sales were up 4.95% year over year in May for the first five months of the year.