Consumers were a wee bit more confident to start April, but that might be because they thought the conflict in the Middle East was winding down. As it’s clear high gas prices are putting a damper on the “present situation.”

Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to skew towards pessimism in April. Comments about prices, oil and gas, and war increased in frequency compared to March—a likely signal of consumers’ underlying worries about how the war in the Middle East will impact their pockets.