The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index decreased 0.6 point to 119.8 in September. Last month’s index was downwardly revised from 122.9 to 120.4. The Present Situation Index fell 2.3 points to 146.1 after growing in each of the four preceding months. The Expectations Index grew 0.5 point to 102.2 after posting a 1.3 point decrease in August.
“Consumer confidence decreased slightly in September after a marginal improvement in August,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Confidence in Texas and Florida, however, decreased considerably, as these two states were the most severely impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Despite the slight downtick in confidence, consumers’ assessment of current conditions remains quite favorable and their expectations for the short-term suggest the economy will continue expanding at its current pace.”
Consumers’ labor market outlook was more favorable in September. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the coming months increased from 16.8% to 19.5%, while the share of those anticipating fewer jobs increased marginally from 13.2% to 13.5%. Income expectations improved once again, as 20.5% of consumers expected their incomes to increase in coming months, up from 19.9% in August. The proportion expecting a decline was virtually unchanged at 8.3%.
Read the Conference Board release.
