Consumer Confidence Continues to Tumble

Consumer optimism about future income has all but vanished, one of several negatives to emerge from the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. In addition, write-in responses on what is affecting participants’ views of the economy contained more references than usual to economic and policy uncertainty.

Overall, the widely watched economic barometer fell in March for the fourth month in a row.

“Of the Index’s five components, only consumers’ assessment of present labor market conditions improved, albeit slightly,” said Stephanie Guichard, the board’s Senior Economist, Global Indicators. “Views of current business conditions weakened to close to neutral. Consumers’ expectations were especially gloomy, with pessimism about future business conditions deepening and confidence about future employment prospects falling to a 12-year low.

“Meanwhile, consumers’ optimism about future income—which had held up quite strongly in the past few months—largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers’ assessments of their personal situations.”

On a six-month moving average basis, purchasing plans for both homes and cars declined. “Surprisingly, given the anxiety about the future, intentions to buy big-ticket items—including appliances and electronics—ticked up, which may reflect plans to buy before impending tariffs lead to price increases,” the index results noted.

As mentioned earlier, comments on the current administration and its policies, both positive and negative, dominated consumers’ write-in responses on what is affecting their views of the economy. Write-in responses showed that worries about the impact of trade policies and tariffs are on the rise and that inflation is still a major concern for consumers.

Click here for more from the latest index.