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Consumer confidence plunged to its lowest level in more than a decade this month — surpassing even the doldrums of the pandemic — according to a survey from the Conference Board.
The overall consumer confidence index fell by 9.7 points in January from December’s reading, hitting its lowest point since May 2014, as views of both the country’s present and future economic state soured.
Consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, for example, dropped by 9.5 points to reach 65.1, falling “well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead,” the Conference Board said. When it came to jobs, just shy of 24% of consumers believed they were “plentiful,” compared to 27.5% in December.
Indeed, the most recent hiring rate data showed weakness that, absent the pandemic, hadn’t been seen since 2013.
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“Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to skew towards pessimism,” Dana M Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, said in a statement. “References to prices and inflation, oil and gas prices, and food and grocery prices remained elevated. Mentions of tariffs and trade, politics, and the labor market also rose in January, and references to health/insurance and war edged higher.”
Read more: Jobs, inflation, and the Fed: How they’re all related
Consumer confidence ebbed across all political affiliations, but the sharpest drop was among independent voters, the Conference Board said.
Still, another recent reading of consumers’ view of the economy — the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment — improved slightly in January, though it remained far below year-ago levels.
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com.
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