Consumer sentiment fell again in September and is now at the level it was during the outset of the 2008 financial crisis, a remarkable dynamic driven by inflation.

Consumer sentiment fell to 55.1, down from 58.2 in August and below economists’ expectations, according to the latest reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for September. Consumer sentiment is now down 21.6% from a year ago. September marked the lowest such reading since May. Sentiment was even lower in April and May of this year than it is now.

Consumer sentiment hit a low of 55.3 in November 2008, as the economy was in the midst of the Great Recession, the stock market was plunging, and unemployment was trending upward.

But right now, the stock market is hitting all-time highs, and the unemployment rate is still at a low 4.3%. This time around, the major driver of the souring sentiment is too-high inflation and concerns that tariffs could further cause cost-of-living problems for consumers, according to Joanne Hsu, the director of the sentiment survey.

Hsu pointed out to the Washington Examiner that sentiment sank even lower than it is now back in 2022 at the peak of the inflationary wave.

“So we saw that, in 2022, people were very unhappy about inflation,” Hsu said. “It showed up in their sentiment numbers, and they recognized that inflation slowed down last year, but specifically this year, a lot of people are concerned that with the escalation of tariff policy, the extremely high tariffs that are being implemented or being announced, could pass through to higher inflation and prices that consumers pay.”

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