Consumer confidence slips

Associated Press

NEW YORK

If you’re a U.S. consumer, why would you be confident?

After a string of bad news that threatens the painfully slow economic recovery, consumer confidence fell to a seven-month low in June on continuing worries about high unemployment and stagnating wages, according to a report released Tuesday by a private research group.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 58.5 in June. That’s down from a revised 61.7 in May, which was an almost six-point drop.

“Americans still feel like they’re in a recession,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group.

A reading of 90 indicates a healthy economy on the index, which measures how Americans feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.

But the index hasn’t approached that level since the recession began in December 2007. In fact, two years after the recession officially ended in June 2009, consumer confidence is still fragile.

“Consumers are growing increasingly worried about the near-term economic outlook,” says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo.

Economists had expected the confidence index to edge up because consumers are paying less at the pump.

Consumers had been hurt by rising gas prices that neared $4 per gallon in late April and early May, leading many to cut back on spending for everything from televisions to clothes. But since the Memorial Day weekend, gas prices have fallen to a national average of $3.57 per gallon.

The consumer confidence report was issued on the same day a widely watched Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller index reported that spring buying boosted home prices in 13 U.S. cities. But the report also showed that housing remains weak in most of the country.