Consumer sentiment slumped as inflation expectations rose, despite otherwise strong signals in the economy, according to a closely watched survey released Friday. The University of Michigan Survey of Consumers sentiment index for May posted an initial reading of 67.4 for the month, down from 77.2 in April and well off the Dow Jones consensus call for 76. The move represented a one-month decline of 12.7% but a year-over-year gain of 14.2%. Along with the downbeat sentiment measure, the outlook for inflation across the one- and five-year horizons increased. The one-year outlook jumped to 3.5%, up 0.3 percentage point ... (full story)