The Conference
Board reported on Tuesday its U.S. consumer confidence index dropped 6.9 points
to 98.7 in September from an upwardly revised 105.6 (from 103.3) in August. That
represented the largest fall since August 2021.
Economists had anticipated
the consumer confidence index to decrease to 103.8.
The details of the
survey revealed that the September drop in the headline index reflected declines in both the present situation index (-10.3 points to 124.3
this month) and the expectations index (-4.6 points to 81.7).
Commenting on
the results of the last survey, Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The
Conference Board, noted that consumer confidence dropped in September to near
the bottom of the narrow range that had prevailed over the past two years. “Consumers'
assessments of current business conditions turned negative while views of the
current labour market situation softened further,” she said, adding that consumers
were also more pessimistic about future labour market conditions and less
positive about future business conditions and future income.