Consumer Confidence Drops in June

After consistently rising for three straight months, consumer confidence in June is sharply down amid worries of the job market, the Conference Board reported on Tuesday.

The index used to measure consumer confidence dropped from 62.7 in May to 52.9 this month, with a benchmark of 100 in 1985. Only 8% of consumers polled by the Conference Board thought that business conditions were good, compared to 9.7% the month before; 42.4% in June thought business conditions were bad, up from 39% in the previous month.

The percentage of those surveyed who thought jobs were hard to get this month increased to 44.8% this month from 43.9% in May. Only 4.3% surveyed for June thought jobs were plentiful, down from 4.8% in May. The percentage who anticipate more jobs in the months ahead decreased to 16%, down 20.2% in May, and those anticipating fewer jobs rose to 20.8% from 17.8% in May.

Consumers are also more pessimistic about an improvement in business conditions over the next six months - 17.2% anticipate an improvement, down from 22.8% who felt that way in the previous month. Those who thought conditions will get worse over the next six months rose to 14.9% in June from 11.9% the month before.

Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said, "Increasing uncertainty and apprehension about the future state of the economy and labor market, no doubt a result of the recent slowdown in job growth, are the primary reasons for the sharp reversal in confidence. Until the pace of job growth picks up, consumer confidence is not likely to pick up."

Source:
The Conference Board