【Consumer Confidence Index Rises for Five Consecutive Months, 1-Year Inflation Expectation Increases to 2.8%】Golden Finance reported that Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan Consumer Survey, stated that the Consumer Confidence Index confirmed early-month data, rising for the fifth consecutive month and reaching a new high since April 2024. Consumers believe that as inflation slows, the economy has significantly improved, but they do not feel they are in a good development state; the current sentiment is roughly between the historical low reached in June 2022 and the data before the COVID-19 pandemic. The inflation expectation for the next year rose from 2.6% last month to 2.8% this month, marking the first month-on-month increase since May, but it remains within the pre-pandemic range of 2.3%-3.0% over the past two years. Long-term inflation expectations slightly decreased from 3.2% last month to 3.0% this month, showing a slight rise compared to the range of the past two years before the pandemic.