The confidence Americans have in the U.S. economy has been dropping the last few months, though it has basically stayed in the same range.
The Conference Board said earlier this week that its consumer confidence index dropped 1.3 points to 97.4 this month. That’s down from July’s 98.7, but in the same narrow range of the past three months.
The small decline in confidence was in line with the forecasts of most of the economists who were surveyed, The Associated Press reported.
A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell by 1.2 points to 74.8, remaining significantly below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead, the AP reported.
Consumers’ assessments of their current economic situation also fell modestly, to 131.2 in August from 132.8 in July.
The unemployment level is still historically low, but there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year, according to the AP report, and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs.
U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, well short of the 115,000 analysts expected. Revisions to the May and June figures shaved 258,000 jobs off previous estimates and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%.
Those reports caused financial markets to spiraling and prompted President Donald Trump to fire Erika McEntarfer, the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tallies the monthly employment numbers.
Another government report showed that U.S. employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in June, down from 7.7 million in May. The number of people quitting their jobs – a sign of confidence in their prospects elsewhere – also fell, the AP reported.
The August jobs report is set to be released Sept. 5.
According to the Conference Board’s report, references to high prices and inflation increased again and were often mentioned in tandem with tariffs.
Other government data this month showed that while prices at the consumer level held fairly steady from June to July, U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly last month.
Economists say that’s a sign that Trump’s sweeping taxes on imports are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way, the AP reported.
