Consumer confidence falls nearly 9 points in November

NEW YORK – Consumer confidence declined to 90.4 in November. This is a sharp fall from an adjusted rate of 99.1 in October and marks the second consecutive month of declines for the index.

“Consumer confidence retreated in November, following a moderate decrease in October,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The decline was mainly due to a less favorable view of the job market.”

The Present Situation Index decreased from 114.6 to 108.1, while the Expectations Index fell from 88.7 to 78.6.

Consumers saying business conditions are “good” decreased from 26.8 to 24.4 percent. However, those claiming business conditions are “bad” also decreased from 18.3 to 16.9 percent.

Those stating jobs are “plentiful” decreased from 22.7 to 19.9 percent and those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased from 24.6 to 26.2 percent.

Optimism about the short-term outlook took a hit in November, which could be a sign of cautious spending going into 2016. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months dropped from 18.1 to 14.8 percent and those expecting conditions to worsen increased from 10.4 to 11.0 percent.

Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead declined from 14.4 to 11.6 percent and those anticipated fewer jobs increase from 16.6 to 18.7 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase decreased from 18.1 to 17.2 percent and the proportion expecting a decline increased from 10.5 to 11.8 percent.

“Heading into 2016, consumers are cautious about the labor market and expect little change in business conditions,” said Franco.