US consumer confidence slips unexpectedly in February, Conference Board says

Consumer confidence slipped back unexpectedly in February as expectations for jobs, incomes and business conditions all soured, the results of a survey found.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell from a reading of 106.0 for January to 102.9 in February (consensus: 108.4).

“Consumer confidence declined again in February. The decrease reflected large drops in confidence for households aged 35 to 54 and for households earning $35,000 or more,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director, Economics at The Conference Board.

A drop in the sub-index for expectations, from 76.0 to 69.7, accounted for the bulk of the decline in the headline index and was left "well below" the 80.0 point mark that according to the Conference Board often signalled a recession within the next year.

Nonetheless, that sub-index had now been below said level for 11 out of the last 12 months.

The sub-index tracking the Present Situation on the other hand rose from 151.1 during the previous month to 152.8.

Ozyildirim pointed out that while views of current conditions had in fact worsened, consumers' views on the availability of jobs saw the sub-index improve.

The proportion of Americans describing jobs as "plentiful" rose back to 52.0%, against 48.1% who said the same in January, the highest level since the previous spring.

"However, the outlook appears considerably more pessimistic when looking ahead," he said.

"Expectations for where jobs, incomes, and business conditions are headed over the next six months all fell sharply in February.”

Expectations for prices 12 months ahead fell from 6.7% in January to 6.3% but the survey compiler said that there might be early signs that consumers were pulling back on spending in the face of high prices and increasing interest rates.