NEW YORK – U.S. consumer confidence declined in September for the second consecutive month, amid worries over the weaker job market and uncertain economy, according to a report today by The Conference Board.
The board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to 99.8 points (1985 = 100), its lowest level since the 98.3-point score in November 2005, from last month’s revised level of 105.6.
The 5.8-point decline was far sharper than the 0.7-point retreat that was the median forecast from a Bloomberg News survey of 71 economists. (Estimates ranged from 100 to 107.)
“The Consumer Confidence Index is now at its lowest level in nearly two years,” wrote Lynn Franco, director of the board’s Consumer Research Center. “Weaker business conditions combined with a less favorable job market continue to cast a cloud over consumers and heighten their sense of uncertainty and concern.
“Looking ahead, little economic improvement is expected – and with the holiday season around the corner, this is not welcome news.”
The Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted for The Conference Board each month by TNS, is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The cutoff for this month’s preliminary results was Sept. 18.
It found consumers’ view of current conditions weakened further this month, with the share of respondents who say conditions are “good” dipping to 25.7 percent from last month’s 26.2 percent, while the share who say conditions are “bad” rose to 17.9 percent from August’s 16.3 percent. Jobs are seen as “hard to get” by 22.1 percent, up from 19.7 last month, and “plentiful” by 25.7 percent, down from August’s 27.5.
Expectations for the next half-year were mixed, however, with the share of those expecting business conditions to worsen rose to 11. 8 percent, from last month’s 10.2 percent, while the share expecting conditions to improve edged up to 15.6 percent from the previous month’s 15.0 percent.
The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase in the months ahead improved moderately to 20.4 percent from 19.8 percent, the board said.
“The risks to the economy have definitely escalated, and that’ll affect consumers as well as businesses,” Ellen Zentner, an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, told Bloomberg News before the report. “We’ve already worked lower consumer spending numbers into our forecast.”
The Conference Board is a nonpartisan, nonprofit business membership and research organization with offices in New York City, Chicago and abroad. Additional information is available at www.Conference-Board.org.
