The U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday by the University of Michigan (UM) Surveys of Consumers fell to 55 in the October 2025 survey, slightly lower than September's 55.1 reading but better than expectations, as the consensus forecast of economists called for a reading of 54.2.
The preliminary reading of the Current Economic Conditions Index for October was 61, higher than the 60.4 reading in September but lower than 64.9 in October 2024. The Index of Consumer Expectations was 51.2, lower than September's 51.7 reading and down 30.9 percent from 74.1 in October 2024.
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US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
Year-ahead inflation expectations ebbed from 4.7 percent in September to a still-high 4.6 percent in October. Long-run inflation expectations held steady at 3.7 percent.
According to economist Joanne Hsu, director of the UM's Surveys of Consumers, pocketbook issues like high prices and weakening job prospects remain at the forefront of consumers' minds. At this time, consumers do not expect meaningful improvement in these factors
The Federal Reserve meeting minutes from September warned that the tariff increases are expected to push up inflation this year and further exacerbate inflationary pressures by 2026.
The U.S. job market is cooling significantly. The UM survey also showed that nearly half of American households still expect the job market to deteriorate further next year.
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
US consumer sentiment in October drops but better than expected
The holdings of the Liaoning Provincial Archives in northeast China on Imperial Japanese Army Unit 731 directly align with Khabarovsk trials testimonies donated by Russia's state archives, making the cross-verified materials irrefutable proof of the unit's brutal wartime crimes.
Inside the Liaoning Provincial Archives, staff retrieved a 1950 file: The first official evidence-gathering record on Unit 731 made after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was compiled back then by the Northeast Health Ministry, documenting Japan's germ warfare crimes at the Harbin site. This is China's earliest formal effort to catalog the unit's atrocities.
"On March 11, 1950, acting on the Central Ministry of Health's instructions, the Northeast China Health Ministry probed Japan's germ warfare units and gathered relevant materials. Meanwhile, the northeast people's government issued a circular, mandating detailed victim investigations with witness testimonies, material evidence, or photos and documentary records," said Gong Zhuolu, deputy director of Archives Compilation and Industrial Culture Research Department under the Liaoning Provincial Archives.
When Japan surrendered in 1945, Unit 731 fled Harbin in haste. Abandoned germ-carrying rats and fleas spread into residential areas, triggering large-scale plague and outbreaks. The file includes germ warfare evidence: witness testimonies, victim accounts, and local notices to gather proof, cementing the unit's atrocity record.
"These archival materials align with witness testimonies from the Khabarovsk Trials and Shenyang Trials, serving as compelling evidence to confirm Unit 731's germ warfare crimes," Gong said.
These files preserved by the Liaoning Provincial Archives are just the tip of the iceberg. As Jin Chengmin, curator of the Unit 731 Crime Evidence Hall, noted: "The full extent of Unit 731's crimes remains undisclosed. No one knows exactly how many people were subjected to human experiments -- only Japan holds the key to these answers."
Chinese archives' evidence of Unit 731 biological war crimes aligns with Russian Khabarovsk trials records
