According to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, consumers are feeling a bit less confident about the economy this month. Overall, the index dropped 6.6 points from December 2018 to 120.2 in January. This number is based on current and expected economic conditions such as labor and business conditions.
The current market and job conditions are assessed as favorable, changing little from December to January. However consumer expectations of the short-term outlook declined from 97.7 to 87.3 this month. A Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board indicated that events such as government shutdowns tend to have this kind of sharp impact on consumer confidence, however it is temporary. The decline in January is likely a result of the shutdown and not a sign of a significant decrease in spending for the coming months.
