(University of Michigan: Ann Harbor, MI) -- Consumer spending will lag rather than lead the recovery from the current recession, according to University of Michigan economist Richard Curtin.

“In the coming years, U.S. consumers will save more and spend less,” says Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. “The recovery will be slow and uneven, and it could take a decade or more for consumers to restore their sense of financial security to prerecession levels.”

Although the preliminary, mid-month consumer sentiment index of 70.2 for September signals that consumers think the worst is over, the fundamental changes in how consumers view their economic situation and its effect on their spending will persist for some time.

Curtin presented the findings on Sept. 16 at a breakfast on Capitol Hill marking the 60th Anniversary of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR), the largest academic social research and survey organization in the world.

Conducted by ISR since 1946, the Surveys of Consumers play a unique role in shaping public policies and business decisions, based on its demonstrated ability to provide an accurate gauge of consumer reactions to the changing economic environment.

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