The Daily Feather — Are Rates About to Play Limbo?

The Limbo originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the mid-19th century as a funeral ritual. It was performed at wakes to commemorate the life of the deceased. The name itself is a Trinidadian English derivative of the word “limber,” referencing “limbus,” Latin for the border of hell, which relates to the in-between state of the ritual. In the 1950s, light was shed upon the darkness of the dance. Pioneer Julia Edwards, the “First Lady of Limbo,” transformed the solemn ritual into vibrant entertainment by pairing it with calypso music and adding dramatic elements like fire. This more theatrical version quickly gained worldwide popularity, becoming a staple of parties, tourist shows, and pop culture. Call Buffalo resident Shemika Charles-Campbell the “Second Lady of Limbo” for her world records. In her first, in 2010, the world witnessed the lowest limbo dance, clearing under a bar just 8.5 inches high. Her second, in 2016, set the world record for farthest distance to limbo under a car at 12 feet, 3 inches.

“How low can you go?” This limbo question translates to what we gleaned from the Final August University of Michigan (UMich) consumer survey. The downward revision to the headline Consumer Sentiment number, to 58.2 from the preliminary 58.6, was driven by a second half of August stumble via forward-looking Consumer Expectations, which were trimmed to 55.9 from the preliminary 57.2.

While sensitivity to prices explains prior movements in Consumer Expectations, downward revisions to inflation expectations in late-August nix that culprit, one-year inflation expectations fell to 4.8% from the prior 4.9% (vs. July’s 4.5%), and 5 to 10-year expectations stepped down to 3.5% from the initial 3.9% (vs. last month’s 3.4%).