US consumer confidence fell to a four-month low in November hit by rising inflation and continued economic uncertainty.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index measured 100.2 for the month, a fall from the downwardly revised 102.2 in October.
"Consumer confidence declined again in November, most likely prompted by the recent rise in gas prices," said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.
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Franco continued: "Inflation expectations increased to their highest level since July, with both gas and food prices as the main culprits. Intentions to purchase homes, automobiles, and big-ticket appliances all cooled."
"The combination of inflation and interest rate hikes will continue to pose challenges to confidence and economic growth into early 2023."
Consumers’ assessments of short-term economic conditions also took a turn for the worse. The Present Situation Index, which measures how consumers feel about the current business and labor market conditions, decreased to 137.4 from 138.7 and the Expectations Index fell to 75.4 from 77.9.
Franco highlighted the fall in the Expectations Index, “which suggests the likelihood of a recession remains elevated."
Consumers' assessment of current business conditions was mixed in November with 18.2% of consumers saying business conditions were "good," up from 17.7%, although more consumers, 26.7%, said business conditions were "bad," up from 24%.
Consumers remained upbeat on the labor market with 45.8% saying jobs were "plentiful," up from 44.8%. But they remained pessimistic about the short-term business outlook although there was a slight uptick in the numbers (19.9%) who expect business conditions to improve, up from 19.6% in October.
In the short-term, consumers were more downbeat about the labor market outlook and income prospects.
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