The consumer confidence index decreased in December, falling to an all-time low of 38.0 from a downwardly revised 44.7 last month, the Conference Board reported yesterday.
The November index was initially reported as 44.9.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would remain 45.0.
The present situation index fell to 29.4 from an upwardly revised 42.3, originally reported as 42.2, while the expectations index decreased to 43.8 from a downwardly revised 46.2 last month, originally reported as 46.7.
“The further erosion of the consumer confidence index reflects the rapid and steep deterioration of economic conditions that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008,” said Lynn Franco, director of the board’s Consumer Research Center. “The present situation index is now close to levels last seen in the months following the 1990-91 recession, but is not as low as levels reached during the 1981-82 recession. Declines in the expectations index appear to be moderating, but this index continues to hover at historical lows. Both sub-indexes bear careful watching over the next several months to see if they are starting to show signs of approaching a bottom. In the meantime, however, the overall economic outlook remains quite dismal for the first half of 2009, and only a modest recovery is expected in the second half.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 7.7% of respondents in December, a decrease from 10.1% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” rose to 46.0% from 40.6%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year grew to 13.4% from 11.5%, while 32.8% said they expect conditions to worsen, up from 28.3% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 6.2% in December from 8.7% in November, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 42.0% this survey from 37.1%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year climbed to 9.7% from 9.2%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available rose to 41.0% from 33.7%, the Conference Board reported.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for the Conference Board by TNS.
