Just in time for the big holiday shopping push, consumer confidence in America has fallen off a cliff.
According to the Conference Board’s latest data, consumer confidence plunged from a revised 80.2 in September to 71.2 (well below analysts prediction of 74.5). That’s the largest drop in two years and comes on the heels of several other depressing reports.
Three weeks ago, Gallup reported the largest single-week drop in consumer confidence since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
Not surprisingly, the plunging numbers were blamed on the so-called “government shutdown,” with the Conference Board going so far as to say future volatility in the index would also be the fault of that crazy Ted Cruz character.
“Consumer confidence deteriorated considerably as the federal government shutdown and debt-ceiling crisis took a particularly large toll on consumers’ expectations,” the organization’s economic indicator guru said in a statement. “However, given the temporary nature of the current resolution, confidence is likely to remain volatile for the next several months.
Amazing … so concern over whether the federal government will be able to indefinitely spend our nation into oblivion is the reason the economy is sucking wind right now. The implementation of Obamacare has nothing to do with it …
Who knew?
Also, if this group thinks what happened in Washington, D.C. this month was a “resolution,” it’s got another thing coming.
Seventeen trillion other things actually … and counting.
6 comments
On the plus side, sales of ammo, canned food, and bottled water are off the charts!
Shifty says— ammo, camo and things that go blamo!
according to you, they’ve BEEN confident?
I don’t think those purty little white girls in the pic give a shit.
For whatever it’s worth, even though confidence is dropping, the money supply has been steadily ticking up the last couple of months….if ABCT holds we are looking at a mini boom in the next month or two…but inflation with it.
It’s probably the jump that stopped a crash this month.
“if ABCT holds….”
Maybe the Cubs will win the World Series, too.