Americans’ confidence in the economy plunged to its lowest level since 2014 in September as rising fuel costs intensified inflation worries and households grew more pessimistic about business conditions, jobs, and their own finances.
\n\nThe Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped 6.7 points to 81.9 from 88.6 in August. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a reading of 89, making the decline a sharp disappointment against forecasts for a small improvement.
\n\nConfidence weakened for a third consecutive month, with deterioration in assessments of both the current economy and the outlook for the next six months.
\n\n“The Consumer Confidence Index deteriorated notably in September, following two prior months of softening,” said Dana M. Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist.
\n\nThe Present Situation Index, which measures views of current business and labor-market conditions, fell 7.9 points to 109.3. The Expectations Index, tracking the outlook for business, employment, and income, declined 5.9 points to 63.6, its third consecutive monthly decrease.
\n\nConsumers’ written responses pointed to mounting pressure from living costs.
\n\n“References to prices, the high cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices in particular, rose to new heights, reflecting September’s surge in fuel…
Original source: https://www.breitbart.com/economy/
