|
The Conference Board today announced that its consumer
confidence index, which had plummeted in September, declined again in October.
The index now stands at 85, down from 87.5 in September.
The present situation index declined to 108.2 from 110.4.
The expectations index decreased to 69.5 from 72.3 last month.
"Much of the decline in confidence over the past two
months can be attributed to the recent hurricanes, pump shock and a weakening
labor market," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer
Research Center. "Consumers' assessment of current conditions, however,
remains above readings a year ago, but their short-term expectations are
significantly below last October's level. This degree of pessimism, in
conjunction with the anticipation of much higher home heating bills this
winter, may take some cheer out of the upcoming holiday season. In order to
avoid a blue Christmas, retailers will need to lure shoppers with sales and
discounts."
Consumers' overall assessment of ongoing conditions was less
positive in October. Those claiming business conditions are "good"
decreased to 23.8 percent from 25.2 percent. Those claiming conditions are
"bad" increased to 18.6 percent from 17.8 percent. The employment
picture was also less buoyant. Consumers saying jobs are "hard to
get" increased to 25.3 percent from 25 percent, while those claiming jobs
are "plentiful" was virtually unchanged at 20.8 percent.
Consumers' short-term outlook was mixed, but less positive
than last month. Those anticipating business conditions to worsen in the next
six months decreased to 18.4 percent from 19.6 percent. Those expecting
business conditions to improve, however, also declined to 14 percent from 15.4
percent.
The outlook for the labor market was less optimistic.
Consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months
decreased to 12.2 percent from 14 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs
eased to 23.7 percent from 24.8 percent in September. The proportion of
consumers anticipating their incomes to increase in the months ahead fell to
16.8 percent from 18.1 percent last month.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative
sample of 5,000 U.S. households.
| 
