The Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing a substantial decline in U.S. consumer confidence for the month of April. The index marking consumer confidence slid to 97.0 in April, a sharp decrease from the downwardly adjusted 103.1 recorded in March. This decrease far exceeded economists’ expectations, who anticipated a dip to only 140.0 from the previously reported 104.7.
Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board, commented on the report, noting this marked the lowest level of consumer confidence since July 2022. This drop was attributed to consumers' concerns about the current job market conditions and increased apprehension about the future of business conditions, job availability, and income.
Despite this dip, Peterson indicated an ongoing optimism about the present situation, which offsets future apprehensions, has been consistently observed since the middle of 2022.
In April the present situation index declined to 142.9 from 146.8 in March, and the expectations index dropped to 66.4 from 74.0.
Peterson pointed out that the main concerns raised by consumers in April related to inflated prices, particularly for food and gas, with political issues and global conflicts being secondary concerns.
