Phone surveys felt better than online ones

Why does it feel like things are always getting worse? That’s a deep question, but in the short term, part of the problem might be the internet: people who answer the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey online tend to rate the economy as worse than otherwise similar people who respond by phone. Accordingly, UMich’s switch to online surveys in 2024 means that their consumer sentiment index might be about 9 percentage points lower today than it would be if we still answered surveys by phone.