Economic worries top the reasons for a consumer confidence lag.NEW YORK (Reuters)
- Consumer confidence plunged unexpectedly to its lowest in 16 years in
May as rising gasoline costs and falling home prices made Americans
nervous about the future, a survey released on Tuesday showed.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its monthly measure of
consumers' mood fell to 57.2 from 62.3 in April, well below Wall
Street's median estimate of 60.0.
"There is a fear the economy is in a recession or going into one and
people may find their jobs in jeopardy," said David Coard, head of
fixed-income sales and trading at The Williams Capital Group in New
York.
"When you talk to people on the street they seem to be really being
squeezed at the pump and the supermarket while their income isn't
keeping up."
The index has dropped by almost half since last July, when housing
market troubles triggered the most severe credit crisis in at least a
decade.
At the same time, inflation expectations rose to an all-time high 7.7 percent, well above April's 6.8 percent.
The pain was felt across the board, with consumers worried about
both what is happening now and what might be to come. The present
situation index dropped to 74.4 from 81.9, while the expectations
barometer dived to 45.7 from 50.0.
Other reports out on Tuesday suggested the housing market will not
get better any time soon. New home sales rose but only after downward
revisions to the prior month, and remained near their weakest in more
than 15 years.
Meanwhile prices of single-family homes plunged a record 14.1
percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five
times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard
& Poor's/Case Shiller index.
"Weakening business and job conditions coupled with growing
pessimism about the short-term future have depleted consumers'
confidence in the overall state of the economy," said Lynn Franco,
director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
(Additional reporting by John Parry; Editing by James Dalgleish)
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
