-Lynn Franco, The Conference Board
Consumers' mood in the United States deteriorated markedly in January, a monthly survey revealed on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 111.8 points in January after hitting 113.7, the highest level in 15 years, in the preceding month, while market analysts anticipated a slighter decrease to 112.6 during the reported period. The survey showed that consumers' assessment of current conditions improved in January. Those stating business conditions are "good" increased to 29.3% from 28.6% in December, whereas those saying conditions were "bad" decreased to 16.1% from 17.8% in the prior month. Nevertheless, consumers' short-term outlook turned significantly more negative in January, falling to 23.1% from the previous month's 24.7%. Furthermore, the share of those expecting business conditions to worsen rose to 10.7% from December's 8.9%. In addition, the proportion of those expecting more jobs in the upcoming months fell to 19.8% from December's 21.7%, while the percentage of those expecting less jobs remained unchanged at 14.0%. The proportion of those expecting their income to improve declined to 18.0% from 21.5%, whereas the share of those expecting an income drop climbed to 9.6% from 8.6% registered in the previous month.
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