US Consumer Confidence Tumbled Again in March

[UpInArms]

Source: PRNewswire

NEW YORK, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® fell by 7.2 points in March to 92.9 (1985=100). The Present Situation Index—based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions—decreased 3.6 points to 134.5. The Expectations Index—based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—dropped 9.6 points to 65.2, the lowest level in 12 years and well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead. The cutoff date for preliminary results was March 19, 2025.

"Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month in March, falling below the relatively narrow range that had prevailed since 2022," said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board. "Of the Index's five components, only consumers' assessment of present labor market conditions improved, albeit slightly. Views of current business conditions weakened to close to neutral. Consumers' expectations were especially gloomy, with pessimism about future business conditions deepening and confidence about future employment prospects falling to a 12-year low. Meanwhile, consumers' optimism about future income—which had held up quite strongly in the past few months—largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers' assessments of their personal situations."

March's fall in confidence was driven by consumers over 55 years old and, to a lesser extent, those between 35 and 55 years old. By contrast, confidence rose slightly among consumers under 35, as an uptick in their assessments of the present situation more than offset gloomier expectations. The decline was also broad-based across income groups, with the only exception being households earning more than $125,000 a year.

Read more: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-consumer-confidence-tumbled-again-in-march-302410584.html

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Folk with a few miles of experience on the odometer know the current situation is far from normal. . . . nt

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Things is getting bad.

I can feel it in my bones, and see it in the stores.

[twodogsbarking]

3. Like a turd circling the bowl before being sucked down into the unknown.

[tonkatoy8888]

4. Two things stand out to me...

...on expected, the other not so much.

One, for consumers with incomes 125k and above everything is rosy. That's to be expected. Everything is great until it isn't. One of my personal pet peeves is higher income earners have a misconception that they are rich. They are not. They're doing well, but anyone who gets up and goes to work every day needs to understand that for them everything can be gone in an instant. No matter how high their income is, they are a member of the working class.

Two, the uptick in consumer confidence by younger people. I thought they were, and have every right to be, the group who feels everything has gone to hell in a handbasket and that they will never get ahead and have one iota of economic security. Just seems counter intuitive to me.

[Hotler]

5. Apply more presure, turn up the spending boycotts. The next article should read, ...

"the fall in confidence was driven by consumers on the left." Things won't start to turn around until MAGA voters feel the pain of their poor choices and votes. We should help them feel it.
($25.00 a week)(one million Dems & Libs)= $100 million a month, $1.2 Billion a year not going into the fascist economy,
Consumer dollars have power and leverage.
Stay strong.