The Conference Board has found that consumers aren’t much impressed with the current state of the economy, and their hopes for the future are in decline as well. The end result is a topline decline in Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® from 54.3 in June to 50.4 in July. The Index stood at 62.7 in May.
The fall was fueled by a decrease in the Present Situation Index to 26.1 from 26.8, and a fall in the Expectations Index to 66.6 from 72.7 last month.
CB’s Lynn Franco commented, “Consumer confidence faded further in July as consumers continue to grow increasingly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. Concerns about business conditions and the labor market are casting a dark cloud over consumers that is not likely to lift until the job market improves. Given consumers’ heightened level of anxiety, along with their pessimistic income outlook and lackluster job growth, retailers are very likely to face challenging back-to-school season.”
Only 15.9% think business conditions will improve in the next six months, compared to 17.1% in June. And an almost equal number, 15.7%, think conditions will get worse over the same period, up from only 13.9% in June.
