US consumer confidence falls in June, despite forecasts

ISTANBUL

The Conference Board's US Consumer Confidence Index fell 5.4 points to 93 in June, reversing an upward move in the previous month, according to data released Tuesday.

The figure for May was revised up to 98.4 points, while markets expected the June figure to come in at 99.4.

The Present Situation Index, which reflects American consumers' assessments of current job and labor market conditions, fell 6.4 points to 129.1 in June.

The Expectations Index, which is consumers' short-term assessments of income, job, and labor market conditions, fell 4.6 points to 69.

The index was well below the threshold of 80 – ​​​​​​​the level indicating a recession is expected in the next year.

“Consumer confidence weakened in June, erasing almost half of May’s sharp gains,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at the Conference Board.

Saying that consumers' evaluations of the current state of affairs and their hopes for the future contributed to the fall, Guichard added that consumers were also less optimistic about current business conditions than in May.

"Their appraisal of current job availability weakened for the sixth consecutive month but remained in positive territory, in line with the still-solid labor market," she noted.

Guichard stated that the future income, employment prospects and business conditions – the three elements that make up the Expectations Index – all declined.

The top factors influencing consumers' perceptions of the economy have not changed much since May.

Consumers continued to worry about tariffs and were concerned how they would affect pricing and the economy.

In June, consumers also expressed significant concerns about inflation and rising costs.

"However, there were a few more mentions of easing inflation compared to last month. This is in line with a cooling in consumers’ average 12-month inflation expectations to 6.0% (down from 6.4% in May and 7% in April)," added Guichard.