Summary
In November, consumer confidence in the United States dropped to its lowest point since April, mainly due to concerns about jobs and finances. The Conference Board's index fell to 88.7 from 95.5 in October, partially influenced by the recent government shutdown. Economists had expected a smaller decline, but the impact of the shutdown affected the availability of economic data.
Key Facts
- In November, the consumer confidence index decreased to 88.7 from 95.5 in October.
- The decline is partly attributed to the recent U.S. government shutdown.
- Economists had predicted the index would fall to 93.4, indicating a smaller drop than what occurred.
- Concerns about prices, inflation, tariffs, trade, and politics were prominent factors in consumers' views.
- Confidence was low across all income groups, with a slight increase for those earning less than $15,000 per year.
- The labor market showed signs of slowing, with only 119,000 jobs added in September.
- The jobless rate increased slightly to 4.4%.
- Limited data is available due to the shutdown's disruption of federal data collection.
