Household worries over finances hit highest level since July 2022, New York Fed survey shows

U.S. households grew more worried over their financial situation, with the share of those seeing things as much worse than they were 12 months ago hitting a nearly four-year high, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey.

While the central bank's monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations, released Monday, showed the inflation outlook mostly unchanged, the general perception of conditions deteriorated.

The share of those seeing their current situation as "much worse" than a year ago leaped to 13.3%, up about 2.7 percentage points from April and the highest since July 2022. The total of those seeing either a much or somewhat worse situation from a year ago stood at 43.7%, which the New York Fed said was the highest since January 2023.

At the same time, the outlook for the coming year wasn't any better.

Those expecting their situations to be either much or somewhat worse totaled 36%, while those seeing things improving totaled just 22.9%. The net between those seeing better versus worse conditions hit its lowest since October 2022, the New York Fed said in the release.

The survey comes with consumers fearful over the inflationary impact from the Iran war, which has sent energy prices soaring.

Some Fed policymakers recently have expressed worry that if the conflict persists it could raise inflation expectations among consumers and businesses, making the problem longer term than the typical temporary impact from supply shocks.

However, the survey showed consumer worries about prices virtually unchanged.