The Conference Board’s US consumer confidence index fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, its lowest reading since April 2014. Assessments of current conditions and expectations for the next six months both weakened. The survey captures households’ views of the economy and job prospects. It does not itself show that spending fell at the same pace, but it reveals a sharper deterioration in sentiment.
The Conference Board, a US business research organisation, reported a 6.7-point fall in its consumer confidence index to 81.9 in September from a revised 88.6 in August. It was the lowest reading since April 2014. The independent AP report identified the same fall and 12-year low. The index records how households assess the economy; it is a survey result, rather than a measurement of what they spent or earned during the month.[1], [2]
The measure of current conditions fell 7.9 points to 109.3. The share of respondents calling business conditions bad increased to 20.4%, from 17.3% in August. People describing jobs as plentiful accounted for 23.6%, down from 24.5%; those saying jobs were hard to get rose to 21.9%, from 20.3%. The gap between the two job responses narrowed to 1.7 percentage points. Respondents rating their family finances as bad outnumbered those rating them good for only the second time since that question began four years ago.[1]
The expectations index fell 5.9 points to 63.6, its third monthly decline in a row. Looking six months ahead, 28.4% expected fewer jobs, up from 26.1%; 14.0% expected more jobs, down from 14.8%. The share expecting lower household income increased to 15.4%, while the share anticipating an increase fell to 17.9%. The online survey’s preliminary responses closed on September 23. Its inflation expectations also rose, with median twelve-month expectations at 5.1%, but those are forecasts expressed by respondents, not a reported inflation rate.[1]
