The consumer confidence index decreased to 111.8 in January from a revised 113.3 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The December index was originally reported as 113.7.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 112.9 reading for the index.
The present situation index rose to 129.7 from a revised 123.5, first reported as 126.1, while the expectations index dropped to 99.8 from a revised 106.4, first reported as 105.5.
"Consumer confidence decreased in January, after reaching a 15-year high in December (Aug. 2001, 114.0)," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators for The Conference Board. "The decline in confidence was driven solely by a less optimistic outlook for business conditions, jobs, and especially consumers' income prospects. Consumers' assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, improved in January. Despite the retreat in confidence, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the coming months."
Business conditions were called "good" by 29.3% of respondents in January, up from 28.6% of respondents in December. Those saying conditions are "bad" fell to 16.1% from 17.8%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year slid to 23.1% from 24.7%, while 10.7% said they expect conditions to worsen, up from 8.9% in the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are "plentiful" grew to 27.4% in January from 26.0% in December, while the number saying jobs are "hard to get" fell to 21.5% from 22.7%. The respondents who see fewer jobs becoming available in a half year, dipped to 14.0% from 14.1%. Those expecting more jobs to become available decreased to 19.8% from 21.7%, The Conference Board reported.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
