Just in time for the holidays, a bad economic mood

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Americans say they feel worse about the economy than they have since the depths of the Great Recession. And it’s a bad time for a bad mood because households are starting to make their holiday budgets.

It might not be all doom and gloom, though. Sometimes what people say about the economy and how they behave are two different things.

Consumer confidence fell in October to the lowest since March 2009, reflecting the big hit that the stock market took this summer and frustration with an economic recovery that doesn’t really feel like one.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer sentiment came in at 39.8, down about 6 points from September and 7 shy of what economists were expecting.

The reading still is well above where the index stood 21/2 years ago, at 26.9. But it’s not even within shouting distance of 90, what it takes to signal that the economy is on solid footing.

Economists watch consumer confidence closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. The index measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.