US consumer confidence plummeted in October to its lowest level in more than seven years as growing numbers of Americans lost their jobs, according to a survey conducted after the September 11 attacks on the US.
The Conference Board, a New York-based private business research group, said its index of consumer confidence plunged for a fourth straight month to 85.5 in October, its lowest level since February 1994. The figure was 97 in September.
The report, which was much worse than Wall Street expectations for a fall to 95.6, said a rebound in confidence was not expected anytime soon. Confidence in September suffered its largest one-month drop since October 1990.
Falling consumer confidence threatens to undermine consumer spending, which drives two-thirds of activity in an economy most economists believe is already in recession.
'The economic outlook is becoming increasingly pessimistic, with consumer sentiment continuing to fall,' said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, in a statement. 'Widespread layoffs and rising unemployment do not signal a rebound in confidence anytime soon.'
The Present Situation Index, which measures consumer views of the economy now, fell sharply to 107.6 from an upwardly revised 125.4 in September. The Expectations Index, which gauges consumers' outlook for the next six months, dived to 70.8 in October from a revised 78.1 in September.
