The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell in July following a large gain in June, raising uncertainty about the recovery.
“Looking ahead, consumers have grown less optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy and labor market and remain subdued about their financial prospects,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “Such uncertainty about the short-term future does not bode well for the recovery, nor for consumer spending.”
The index is now at a level of 92.6 (1985=100), down from 98.3 in July.
Despite the lower index, The Conference Board’s poll on which the index is based found consumers were more upbeat about job prospects. Consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” rose to 21.3% in July from 20.5% in June. In addition, the percentage of consumers saying jobs are “hard to get” fell to 20.0% in July from 23.3% in June.