The preliminary consumer sentiment figures for February have been released by the University of Michigan. The reading was 93.6, which was down from the previous reading of 98.1, the highest that it has reached in the past decade. The Bloomberg consensus estimate for February was 98.5.

The improvement is said to be due to consecutive gains in each of the past six months, with the sentiment index improving by roughly 20% since July 2014.

According to Bloomberg, the University of Michigan’s Richard Curtin said in a statement:

Low gas prices have especially helped lower-income households, although consumers now widely anticipate that gas prices will edge upward during the year ahead.

The current conditions component reading was 103.1, which was down from 109.3 in January, and the expectations component was at 87.5, a decline from the previous 91.0.

Going forward, consumer spirits remain strong, but they are not as strong as they were in January. They also have yet to translate to a similar pickup in consumer spending.

ALSO READ: With Gas Prices Low, Why Are Consumers Staying So Frugal?

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