US consumer sentiment falls to lowest level since September

US consumer sentiment has continued falling since September last year and hit the lowest level this month.

The final reading of the consumer sentiment for April fell to 89 from 91 in March, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment Friday.

"Consumer sentiment continued its slow decline in late April due to weakening expectations for future growth, although their views of current economic conditions remained positive," said survey director Richard Curtin.

The index reached a low of 87.2 in September 2015. It's 14.7 percent lower than the peak level in January 2015.

"The retreat from the 2015 peaks was evident across a wide range of expectations about prospects for the national economy," said Curtin. "The size of the decline, while troublesome, is still far short of indicating an impending recession."

The sub-index of current conditions, reflecting Americans' perceptions of their financial situation and whether they consider it a good time to buy big-ticket items like cars, rose to 106.7 from 105.6 last month.

The sub-index gauging consumer expectations for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer spending, fell to 77.6 from 81.5 in March.