Consumer confidence drops to lowest level since summer

U.S. consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level since the summer amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Rising cases and deaths have led to new lockdowns, softening consumer confidence in the economy. 

The latest Conference Board report released Tuesday showed the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) declined in December following a decrease in November. The score ranked at 92.9 last month and fell to 88.6 in December.

The CCI is a measure of how people feel about the economy now and how they feel it’s going to perform in the future, which is correlated with how much people are willing to spend.

Back in August, the number dropped to 84.8, down from 91.7 in July.

Consumption accounts for nearly two-thirds of the U.S. economic activity, and Tuesday’s Conference Board report underscored, “current conditions deteriorated sharply in December, as the resurgence of COVID-19 remains a drag on confidence,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators.

There were a few notes of optimism found among consumers’ short-term outlooks.

Consumers elevated their beliefs that economic conditions will improve over the next six months, rising from 26.5 to 29 percent between November and December.