Consumer Confidence Index slips

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index decreased in February for the second consecutive month.

Now at 102.9 (1985=100), the closely watched industry metric is down from a downwardly revised 106.0 in January.

“The decrease reflected large drops in confidence for households aged 35 to 54 and for households earning $35,000 or more,”  said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director, economics at The Conference Board.

“And, while 12-month inflation expectations improved—falling to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent last month—consumers may be showing early signs of pulling back spending in the face of high prices and rising interest rates. Fewer consumers are planning to purchase homes or autos and they also appear to be scaling back plans to buy major appliances. Vacation intentions also declined in February.”

The New York-based Conference Board, an economic think tank, revealed several other starts related to consumer attitudes:

On current conditions:
• 17.8% of consumers said business conditions were “good,” down from 19.9%.
• 17.7% said business conditions were “bad,” down from 19.0%.

On the labor market:
• 52.0% of consumers said jobs were “plentiful,” up from 48.1%.
• 10.5% of consumers said jobs were “hard to get,” down from 11.1%.

On short term income prospects:
• 13.4% of consumers expect their incomes to increase, down from 17.4% last month.
• 11.6% expect their incomes will decrease, down from 13.4% last month.