Internet reports that John Velis, a strategist at Bank of New York Mellon, said the decline in the University of Michigan consumer confidence index was "frustrating." Particularly worrying, he said, is the rise in long-term inflation expectations, which have previously remained relatively stable. As consumer confidence falters, weakening demand may begin to manifest itself in the real economy, a phenomenon that has emerged in some industries such as air travel. Air travel prices fell in February based on inflation data released this week. Regarding consumer confidence surveys, Velis said: "There is a lot of cyclical evidence that these indicators are not good predictors, but you can't ignore the overall decline and the reasons behind it."