JUNE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE PLUNGES TO 50.4 FROM 58.1 REVISED
The Conference Board’s June Consumer Confidence Index fell off a cliff in June, dropping to 50.4 from a revised 58.1 in May (previously reported as 57.2).
The reading was the 5th lowest on record and much lower than the consensus estimate of 56. The last time the index was lower was Feb-92, when it read 47.3.
The June Present Situation Index fell to 64.5 from 74.2, while the Expectations Index fell to 41 — an all-time low — from 47.3 in May.
“Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions continues to grow more negative and suggests the economy remains stuck in low gear,” the Conference Board said. “Looking ahead, consumers’ economic outlook is so bleak that the Expectations Index has reached a new all-time low.”
Oddly enough, the Conference Board sees a “silver lining”, saying that Consumer Confidence may be nearing a bottom.
Consumers seeing business conditions as “bad” rose to 32.5% from 29.7% in May, while those saying jobs are hard to get rose to 30.5% from 28.3% last month.
Those expecting business conditions to worsen over the next 6 months rose to 33.9% from 32.9% in May. More than 35% expect the job market to deteriorate, from 32.3% last month.
This not good news for an already-skittish market and raises significant GDP growth concerns for the FOMC (consumer spending is about 70% of the economy).