WASHINGTON, 28 September 2005 — US consumer confidence, shaken by hurricanes and surging energy costs, slumped to a 23-month low, a Conference Board survey showed yesterday in a potentially ominous sign for the overall economy. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index for September plunged to 86.6 from a revised 105.5 in August. It was the lowest level for the survey by the business research group since October 2003, when it was 81.7. It was also well below the average Wall Street forecast of 94.3.
Two other indexes in the Conference Board survey also fell sharply. The present situation index decreased to 108.9 from 123.8 and the forward-looking expectations index fell to 71.7 from 93.3 last month.
Consumers’ overall assessment of ongoing conditions was considerably less favorable in September, the survey found. Those claiming business conditions are “good” declined to 25.2 percent from 29.7 percent. Those claiming conditions are “bad” increased to 17.7 percent from 15.1 percent.
The employment picture was also less upbeat. Consumers saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 25.4 percent from 23.1 percent, while those claiming jobs are “plentiful” fell to 20.1 percent from 23.6 percent.
The outlook for the next six months was decidedly pessimistic. Those anticipating business conditions to worsen increased to 19.8 percent from 10.0 percent. Those expecting business conditions to improve declined to 15.3 percent from 18.7 percent.
Those expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months decreased to 14.0 percent from 16.4 percent. Those expecting fewer jobs increased to 25.0 percent in September, up from 17.3 percent in August.
