Consumer sentiment is in the dumps. This from MarketWatch:

U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to the lowest level in nearly 28 years in May as worries about inflation grew, according to the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The UMich index fell from 62.6 in April to 59.8 in May, marking the lowest since June 1980. The preliminary May index was reported at 59.5 two weeks ago.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for the closely tracked index to fall to 59.0 at the end of the month.

“The Reuters/University of Michigan poll tells us that consumers haven’t seen their immediate futures so dimly since Ronald Reagan declared, ‘It’s morning again in America,’ says Addison Wiggan and Ian Mathias in The 5 Min. Forecast.

“But maybe this will cheer them up. The Commerce Department reports consumer income in the U.S. rose 0.2% in April — far ‘better than expected’…

“Uh, until you read the fine print. Personal spending rose by a 0.2% during the month, too. And the department’s gauge of inflation rose by the same measure… 0.2%. So net-net, consumers spent all the more they earned… which bought 0.2% less than it did in March.

Oh, well…