Consumers' confidence slips
By Anne D'Innocenzio |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AMERICANS' confidence in the economy has eroded further amid worries about a job market that has proven stubbornly stagnant.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said yesterday that its Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 50.4 in July, down from the revised 54.3 in June. The decline follows last month's nearly 10-point drop, from 62.7 in May, which marked the biggest since February, when the measure also fell 10 points.
The second straight month of declining confidence follows three months of increases.
With unemployment stuck near 10 percent and the stock market having wiped out gains made early this year, Americans are skittish about spending. A continuing stream of sobering economic data - from disappointing job figures in May and June to weak housing numbers - is increasing worries that economic recovery is stalling just as government stimulus programs are disappearing.
One component of the Consumer Confidence Index, which measures how people feel about the economy, declined to 26.1 from 26.8. The other barometer, which measures respondent's outlook over the next six months, declined to 66.6 from 72.7 last month.
The index - which measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months - had been recovering fitfully since hitting an all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009.
Economists watch the numbers closely because consumer spending in the United States accounts for about 70 percent of the country's economic activity.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said yesterday that its Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 50.4 in July, down from the revised 54.3 in June. The decline follows last month's nearly 10-point drop, from 62.7 in May, which marked the biggest since February, when the measure also fell 10 points.
The second straight month of declining confidence follows three months of increases.
With unemployment stuck near 10 percent and the stock market having wiped out gains made early this year, Americans are skittish about spending. A continuing stream of sobering economic data - from disappointing job figures in May and June to weak housing numbers - is increasing worries that economic recovery is stalling just as government stimulus programs are disappearing.
One component of the Consumer Confidence Index, which measures how people feel about the economy, declined to 26.1 from 26.8. The other barometer, which measures respondent's outlook over the next six months, declined to 66.6 from 72.7 last month.
The index - which measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months - had been recovering fitfully since hitting an all-time low of 25.3 in February 2009.
Economists watch the numbers closely because consumer spending in the United States accounts for about 70 percent of the country's economic activity.
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