Consumer confidence drops in July

New York--After improving in June, the Consumer Confidence Index--the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that consumers express via their spending and saving--declined in July.

According to The Conference Board, the index now stands at 90.9, down from 99.8 in June. The Present Situation Index dropped moderately, from 110.3 in June to 107.4 in July, while the Expectations Index dropped more sharply, from 92.8 to 79.9.

Consumers’ assessment of current conditions was somewhat less favorable in July, The Conference Board said, with those identifying business conditions as “good” decreasing from 26 percent to 24 percent.

Still, those claiming that business conditions were “bad” stayed relatively unchanged at 18 percent.

Also hurting the overall index was consumers’ optimism on the short-term outlook, which decreased sharply last month. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months declined from 18 percent to 15 percent, and those expecting business conditions to worsen rose from 10.2 percent to 10.7 percent.

When it came to the job market, consumers were slightly less positive in July, with those who stated jobs were “plentiful” dropping from 21.3 percent to 20.7 percent, and those saying jobs were “hard to get” increasing from 26 percent to 27 percent.

“Consumers continue to assess current conditions favorably, but their short-term expectations deteriorated this month,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “A less optimistic look for the labor market, and perhaps the uncertainty and volatility in financial markets prompted by the situation in Greece and China, appears to have shaken consumers’ confidence. Overall, the index remains at levels associated with an expanding economy and a relatively confident consumer.”

The Consumer Confidence Survey was conducted by The Conference Board for Nielsen. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was July 16.