Consumer confidence falls

Consumer confidence fell slightly in September to the lowest level in a year amid a recent run of stock market turbulence, according to a new poll. 

Sentiment, which has steadily declined since April, dropped to 53.9, the same level as a year ago, from 54.2 in August, according to the latest Thomson Reuters/Ipsos consumer sentiment index released on Thursday. 

{mosads}“The recent wild ride in the stock market and volatility caused by non-transparent economic policies in China have caused the U.S. consumer to stress,” said Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Thomson Reuters. 

“However, the reality is that the latest employment news isn’t all negative for the U.S. economy and these fiscal factors needs to be put in context,” Martis said.  

“The uncertainty of the direction of the global markets continues to be a big debate on all major news outlets and as a result is instilling fear in consumers, who are spending cautiously.”

A reflection of the improving jobs picture is an uptick in employment confidence, which is up 2.3 percentage points. 

Otherwise, the three other index components of the index all dropped with concerns about current conditions taking the hardest hit, falling 1.8 percentage points.