Consumer confidence reaches new low

NEW YORK The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased moderately in January, declined again in February, reaching yet another all-time low. The Index now stands at 25 (1985=100), down from 37.4 in January. The Present Situation Index declined to 21.2 from 29.7 last month. The Expectations Index decreased to 27.5 from 42.5 in January.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. TNS is the world's largest custom research company. The cutoff date for February's preliminary results was February 18th.

Consumers' appraisal of overall current conditions, which was already bleak, worsened further. Those claiming business conditions are "bad" rose to 51.1% from 47.9% while those saying business conditions are "good" edged up to 6.8% from 6.5% last month. Consumers' assessment of the labor market turned considerably more pessimistic in February. Those saying jobs are "hard to get" increased to 47.8% from 41.1% in January, while those stating jobs are "plentiful" fell to 4.4% from 7.1%.

Consumers' short-term outlook turned significantly more negative this month. Consumers anticipating business conditions will worsen over the next six months increased to 40.5% from 31.1%, while those expecting conditions to improve declined to 8.7% from 12.8% in January.

The employment outlook was also much grimmer. The percentage of consumers expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead increased to 47.3% from 36.9%, while those expecting more jobs declined to 7.1% from 9.1%. The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes declined to 7.6% from 10.3%.