Revealed: April 25, 2023 at 10:06 a.m. ET
The numbers: A survey of shopper confidence fell in April to a nine-month low of 101.3, reflecting nagging worries a couple of doable recession and a softening labor market.
The intently adopted index dropped 2.7 factors from a revised 104 within the prior month, the Convention Board mentioned Tuesday.
The extent of confidence in April was the bottom…
The numbers: A survey of shopper confidence fell in April to a nine-month low of 101.3, reflecting nagging worries a couple of doable recession and a softening labor market.
The intently adopted index dropped 2.7 factors from a revised 104 within the prior month, the Convention Board mentioned Tuesday.
The extent of confidence in April was the bottom since July 2022. Economists polled by The Wall Road Journal had forecast the index to register 104.
Shopper confidence tends to sign whether or not the economic system is getting higher or worse. The index stays effectively beneath the degrees related to a wholesome economic system.
Huge image: The U.S. economic system grew at a stronger tempo than anticipated within the first quarter of 2023, a interval working from January to March. Forecasters polled by The Wall Road Journal predict gross home product expanded at a 2% annual fee.
But the economic system is unlikely to repeat that efficiency within the spring. Rising rates of interest and still-high inflation have pinched development and a red-hot labor market seems to be cooling a bit.
Many economists assume a recession will not be distant, a view apparently shared by many People given the low degree of confidence.
Wanting forward: “Customers turned extra pessimistic concerning the outlook for each enterprise circumstances and labor markets,” mentioned Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics on the board. “Fewer households anticipate enterprise circumstances to enhance and extra anticipate worsening of circumstances within the subsequent six months.”
Market response: The Dow Jones Industrial Common
DJIA
and S&P 500
SPX
prolonged their losses in Tuesday trades.