Sep 24, 2024 - Economy

Americans growing more worried about where economy is headed

Courtenay Brown

Illustration of Benjamin Franklin with his hand up to his face, looking out through his fingers. — Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

Consumer confidence plunged by the most in three years this month as more Americans adopt increasingly negative perceptions of the current and future economy.

The big picture: The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell almost 7 points to 98.7 in September — the biggest monthly drop since September 2021.

Why it matters: It's not just monetary policy officials who are worried about a labor market slowdown. Consumers became more pessimistic about the economy this month than in years past — largely because of a darkening outlook on employment.

What they're saying: The deterioration "likely reflected consumers' concerns about the labor market and reactions to fewer hours, slower payroll increases, fewer job openings," Dana Peterson, the group's chief economist, said in a release.

That is despite signs of a healthy labor market, with low unemployment and layoffs, Peterson added.
About 31% of consumers said jobs were plentiful, down almost 2 points from August. The share of those who said jobs were "hard to get" jumped 1.5 percentage points to 18.3%.

The intrigue: Concerns about inflation haven't been totally supplanted by job market worries.

The Conference Board says that "prices" and "inflation" are most commonly cited as factors affecting consumers' view of the economy.
But more consumers this month pointed out that inflation had receded.

Of note: The Conference Board said write-in responses about election concerns remain below those seen ahead of the 2020 and 2016 elections.

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Americans growing more worried about where economy is headed

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