The Conference
Board (CB) reported on Tuesday that its U.S. consumer confidence index fell 7.9
points to 86.0 in April from an upwardly revised 93.9 (from 92.9) in March. That
marked the fifth consecutive monthly decline in consumer sentiment.
Economists had anticipated
the consumer confidence index to decrease to 87.5.
The survey's
details revealed that the present situation index (-0.9 point to 133.5 this
month) and the expectations index (-12.5 points to 54.4) both dropped this
month, with the latter dropping to the lowest level since October 2011 and well
below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead.
Commenting on
the findings of the last survey, Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators
at The Conference Board, noted that April’s decrease in consumer confidence,
which brought it to the levels not seen since the onset of the COVID pandemic, was
largely driven by consumers’ expectations. “The three expectation components - business
conditions, employment prospects, and future income - all deteriorated sharply,
reflecting pervasive pessimism about the future,” she added.
Guichard also
noted that high financial market volatility in April pushed consumers’ views
about the stock market deeper into negative territory, with 48.5% expecting
stock prices to decline over the next 12 months (the highest share since
October 2011). “Meanwhile, average 12-month inflation expectations reached 7%
in April - the highest since November 2022, when the U.S. was experiencing
extremely high inflation,” she added.