“Consumer confidence retreated in November, following a moderate decrease in October”, said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.
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And, many economists were confident that the pace of jobs growth is set to strengthen in the coming months, after the October rebound from a slowdown in the preceeding two months. It was the highest since March 2015, when the score was 3.3.
The report said consumers’ assessment of current conditions was less positive in November, with the present situation index dropping to 108.1 from 114.6. Those saying business conditions are “good” decreased from 26.8 percent to 24.4 percent.
Consumers were also more downbeat about chances that their wages would rise.
Economists expressed surprise about the drop in the indexes, particularly since other measures of consumer attitudes had appeared to bounce back from a weak period prompted by market turmoil in the late summer.
The report is likely to increase the focus on the Labor Department’s November jobs report, which is due next Friday.
New claims for unemployment insurance benefits, a sign of the pace of layoffs, have been trending at a four-decade low and October job growth of 271,000 was the strongest of the year.
The number of consumers reporting jobs now were “plentiful” in the first half of November dropped sharply, as those did anticipating more jobs in the months ahead.
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On Wednesday, the University of MI is scheduled to release its revised reading on consumer sentiment in November. That report was published on Nov. 13 and showed US consumer optimism rose for the second straight month in November. Fewer consumers said conditions had improved, while the proportion saying conditions had deteriorated also declined.
