NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index fell to 58.5 in June from an upwardly revised 61.7 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 60.5.
The May index was originally reported as 60.8.
The present situation index dipped to 37.6 from an unrevised 39.3, while the expectations index dropped to 72.4 from an upwardly revised 76.7, originally reported as 75.2.
“This month’s decline in consumer confidence was driven by a less favorable assessment of current conditions and continued pessimism about the short-term outlook,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers rated both current business and labor market conditions less favorably than in May, and fewer consumers than last month foresee conditions improving over the next six months. Inflation fears eased considerably in June, but concern about income prospects increased. Given the combination of uneasiness about the economic outlook and future earnings, consumers are likely to continue weighing their spending decisions quite carefully.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 14.3% of respondents in June, the same as in May. Those saying conditions are “bad” climbed to 38.0% from 37.2%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year fell to 16.4% from 17.2%, while 14.7% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 15.4% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” dipped to 5.2% in June from 5.7% in May, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 43.8% this survey from 43.5%. The respondents who see fewer jobs becoming available in a half year, held at 20.3%. Those expecting more jobs to become available dipped to 14.2% from 16.7%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were worse, with 13.9% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, off from the prior month's 14.9%, while 16.5% expect their income to decrease, up from 15.1% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months slumped to 3.7% from 5.5%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car fell to 10.7% from 13.7%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (47.0% vs. 47.9%).
Fewer respondents than last month (41.8% vs. 43.9%) expect to take a vacation in the next six months, but more said they would stay in the U.S. rather than leave the country. Cars rather than airplanes were the preferred mode of travel, by a 22.4%-20.3% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
