US consumer confidence slides to four-month low; home sales tumble
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low in September, weighed down by persistent worries about higher prices and rising fears of a recession, though households remained generally upbeat about the labor market.
The second straight monthly decline in confidence reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday also reflected higher interest rates and concerns about the political environment as the nation faces a potentially disruptive shutdown of the federal government on Saturday amid political wrangling. Confidence fell across all age groups, and was most pronounced among consumers with household incomes of $50,000 or more.
«Overall confidence was lower than expected as a sharp drop in expectations, perhaps linked to the talk of a government shutdown, outweighed a slightly stronger appraisal of current conditions in September as households' assessment of the labor market improved,» said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 103.0 this month, the lowest reading since May, from an upwardly revised 108.7 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index easing to 105.5 from the previously reported 106.1. Consumers' perceptions of the likelihood of a recession over the next year ticked back up.
A sharp decrease in the expectations measure accounted for the decline in confidence, which economists partially attributed to the looming government shutdown, with Congress so far failing to pass any spending bills to fund federal agency programs in the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1.
The shutdown will see hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and a wide range
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