Bloomberg News
Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly dropped in October as Americans fretted about job prospects.
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The Conference Board’s index of consumer sentiment fell to 105.4 last month from a revised reading of 105.9 in September that was higher than originally reported.
The report raises doubts about the strength of consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the economy. Economists are counting on consumer spending to soften the blow from the housing slump, which helped pulled the pace of growth down to a three-year low last quarter.
“It throws a big question mark on the outlook for consumer spending,” Chris Rupkey, an economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said before the report. “This could worry businesses, which are right now on a spending spree because they’re not expecting any problems in consumer demand.
”Economists forecast the confidence index would rise to 108, the median of 59 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, from an originally reported 104.5. Estimates ranged from 104.5 to 113.2. The index averaged 105.4 in the first nine months of this year.
