Consumer Confidence Falls, Lowest Since February
Shared By Pratt’s Pub
This really is not good. I heard that back in the hay day’s it was around and above 100.So why is it so low? Because Obama scares people. The don’t know if they are going to be getting hit shortly with tax increases or have to start paying more for products because because businesses are being slammed.
Below is likely just an except of the original article. Please follow the link above to read the full article.
U.S. consumer confidence sank in July to its lowest since February on job market worries, underscoring the slow path to economic recovery, and home prices rose in May but without signs of a sustained rebound, reports released Tuesday showed.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said consumer attitudes worsened this month as did their expectations about jobs being hard to get.
The group’s index of consumer attitudes fell to 50.4 in July from an upwardly revised 54.3 in June, below the median forecast of 51 in a Reuters poll.
“There have been quite a few headwinds — the fiscal stimulus is fading, the European situation certainly did have an impact on consumer confidence and inventories are being brought more into line,” said David Sloan, economist at 4Cast in New York. “But clearly the big problem for consumers is jobs.”
U.S. Treasuries trimmed losses and stocks pared gains after the dim consumer confidence reading as investors bought safe government assets.
“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,” said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
U.S. single-family home prices rose more than expected in May, still reflecting robust spring sales spurred by now-expired homebuyer tax credits, Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday.
May is a strong seasonal period for home sales, S&P said, and buyers who rushed to sign contracts by the April 30 deadline for up to $8,000 in tax credits have until Sept. 30 to close loans.
