US Consumer Confidence Falls to 89.4 as Households Cut Service Spending
Updated
Updated · Marketplace · Aug 25
US Consumer Confidence Falls to 89.4 as Households Cut Service Spending
3 articles · Updated · Marketplace · Aug 25
Summary
The Conference Board’s August survey showed confidence at a seven-month low of 89.4, with consumers markedly more pessimistic about the next six months even as views of current conditions held roughly steady.
Inflation and shrinking real wages drove that gloom, with respondents citing oil, war, food and prices as top worries while saying their paychecks buy less than a year or two ago.
Consumers said they plan to spend less on most service categories — including dining, internet, personal care and health — while utility spending was the lone area expected to rise.
That pullback has not yet broken overall consumer spending because higher-income households are still spending, masking a more uneven, K-shaped economy in which lower- and middle-income households are under greater strain.