U.S. household sentiment fell in May to its lowest level in six months, according to preliminary survey figures released by the University of Michigan on Friday.

The index of consumer sentiment fell to 67.4 this month from 77.2 in April, while analysts were forecasting a much smaller decline to around 76.2.

According to Joanne Hsu, the report's author, consumers are now negative on a range of developments.

They are worried about inflation, unemployment and interest rates, all of which they believe could move in the wrong direction over the coming year", she points out.

In detail, the current conditions component has fallen to 68.8 from 79 last month, while the expectations component is down to 66.5 from 76 in April.

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