Oh good God. No wonder my sales have been poor.
NEW YORK - Consumer confidence plummeted almost 19 points in September, its biggest drop in 15 years, as Americans worried about the economic fallout of Hurricane Katrina and rising gasoline prices.
The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index, compiled from a survey of U.S. households, dropped 18.9 points to 86.6, from a revised reading of 105.5.
That marked the biggest fall since October 1990 when the index fell 23 points to 62.6 in the wake of the recession. The September reading was also the lowest level since October 2003, when it registered 81.7.
Analysts had expected the September reading to be 98.
"Hurricane Katrina, coupled with soaring gasoline prices and a less optimistic job outlook, has pushed consumer confidence to its lowest level in nearly two years and created a degree of uncertainty and concern about the short-term future," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said in a statement. "Historically, shocks have had a short-term impact on consumer confidence,especially on consumers' expectations."
Franco added, however, that as rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Katrina take hold and job growth gains momentum, consumers' confidence should rebound and return to "more positive levels by yearend or early 2006."
Economists closely track consumer confidence because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.
And my heat bill just went up 21%. Yikes.