US Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Level Since 2014

The Conference Board on Tuesday said its Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.7 points from 88.6 in August to 81.9 in September, the lowest since 2014 and short of the 89 economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected. The Present Situation Index fell 7.9 points to 109.3 and the Expectations Index fell 5.9 points to 63.6. The labor-market differential fell 2.5 points to 1.7%. The share expecting higher interest rates in the next 12 months rose 5.2 points to 68.4%. Dana M. Peterson of the Conference Board said appraisals of current business conditions became negative for the first time since September 2024, and labor-market perceptions worsened though stayed positive. She said references to prices and oil and gas prices rose to new heights after September's fuel-cost surge. The University of Michigan index fell to 48.1 from 51.7 in August, down 15% from January. Joanne Hsu said personal-finance views weakened about 10% this month as high-price concerns climbed; next-year inflation expectations rose to 4.6% and long-run to 3.4%. She said Republican sentiment was down 20% since year-start versus 13% for Democrats. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates this month amid inflation concerns.