Consumer confidence in the United States fell in July after jumping in June. The Conference Board reported that the consumer confidence index dropped to 103.2 from 106.2 in June.
June’s level of 106.2 was the highest consumer confidence index in three years. Now, concern is rising over job prospects, and gasoline prices continue to be high.
“The overall state of the economy remains healthy and consumers’ outlook suggests no storm clouds on the short-term horizon,” the Consumer Research Center’s director, Lynn Franco.
“Even the steady upward tick of fuel prices at the pump has done relatively little to dampen consumers’ spirits. Yet, while there is little to suggest a downturn in activity, there is also little to suggest a pickup,” added Franco. According to AP,
One component of the consumer confidence report, which looks at consumers’ views of the current economic situation, fell to 118.5 from 120.8. Another component, the Expectations Index, which measures consumers’ outlook over the next six months, declined to 93.0 percent from 96.4 in June.
The Conference Board’s gauges are derived from responses received through July 19 to a survey mailed to 5,000 households in a consumer research panel. The figures released Tuesday include responses from at least 2,500 households.
“Overall, confidence is still at a healthy level, up from where it was a year ago, but we did pull back a bit from the three-year high that we saw in June,” said Gary Thayer, chief economist with A.G. Edwards and Sons.
Consumers are overall not too optimistic about the future. The number of consumers expecting improvement dropped to 17.6% from 19.5%, while the number expecting conditions to worsen rose to 9.6% from 9.0%.
Chris is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
