NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index slipped to 53.1 in September from an upwardly revised 54.5 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.
The August index was originally reported as 54.1.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would rise to 57.0.
The present situation index fell to 22.7 from an upwardly revised 25.4, originally reported as 24.9, while the expectations index dipped to 73.3 from an upwardly revised 73.8 last month, originally seen as 73.5.
“Consumer confidence, which had improved in August, retreated slightly in September,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “The present situation index decreased, as consumers viewed both current business conditions and the labor market less favorably than last month. While not as pessimistic as earlier this year, consumers remain quite apprehensive about the short-term outlook and their incomes. With the holiday season quickly approaching, this is not very encouraging news.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 8.7% of respondents in September, an increase from 8.5% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” grew to 46.3% from 44.6%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year slid to 21.3% from 22.2%, while 15.0% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 15.2% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 3.4% in September from 4.3% in August, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 47.0% this survey from 44.3%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, dipped to 17.9% from 18.0%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available held at 23.1%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were mixed, with 11.2% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, up from the prior month's 10.8%, while 19.0% expect their income to decrease, up from 17.8% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months plunged to 2.3% from 3.0%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car slipped to 4.4% from 5.3%. Fewer consumers said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (23.8% vs. 26.2%).
More respondents than last month (38.9% vs. 37.1%) 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 21.1%-16.7% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for The Conference Board by TNS.
