The Consumer Confidence Index fell 9.1 points from 96.4 in January to 87.3 this month (1985=100), according to a report released yesterday by the Conference Board. The Expectations Index fell to 96.8 this month from 107.8 and the Present Situation Index declined to 73.1 from 79.4 in January.
"Consumers began the year on a high note, but their optimism has quickly given way to caution," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Consumers remain disheartened with current economic conditions, and at the core of their disenchantment is the labor market. While the current expansion has generated jobs over the past several months, the pace of creation remains too tepid to generate a sustainable turnaround in consumers' confidence. And, with consumers anticipating economic conditions to remain about the same in the months ahead, their short-term outlook turned less optimistic."
Consumers' assessment of current conditions was less positive in February than last month, with those claiming business conditions are "good" declining to 19.3 percent from 21.9 percent. Those claiming conditions are "bad" rose to 25.1 percent from 22.9 percent in January. Consumers claiming jobs are "hard to get" edged up to 32.1 percent in February from 31.6 percent the previous month. Those saying jobs are "plentiful" declined to 11.8 percent this month from 12.3 percent in January.
Consumers' short-term outlook weakened significantly, with those expecting business conditions to improve in the next six months dropping to 21.8 percent from 27.6 percent in January. Consumers anticipating more jobs to become available in the next six months fell to 18.7 percent this month compared to 22.0 percent in January.
Posted by gandlwoods at March 1, 2004 08:58 AM