Empty shelves of eggs are seen in a supermarket in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Feb. 20, 2025.
Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images
Consumers grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook in February as worries brewed about a slowing economy and rising inflation, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down nearly 7% and below the Dow Jones forecast for 102.3. This was the lowest reading since June 2024 and the largest monthly drop since August 2021.
“Views of current labor market conditions weakened. Consumers became pessimistic about future business conditions and less optimistic about future income,” said Stephanie Guichard, the board’s senior economist for global indicators. “Pessimism about future employment prospects worsened and reached a ten-month high.”
Though most economic indicators reflect continued growth, the Conference Board gauge matches other recent surveys showing waning confidence. Last week, the University of Michigan reported a larger-than-expected monthly decrease of nearly 10% in February while the five-year inflation outlook among respondents hit its highest level since 1995.
In the Conference Board survey, the decline came across age groups and income levels.
Along with the overall drop in confidence, the Expectations Index tumbled 9.3 points to a 72.9 reading, the first time since June 2024 that the measure has fallen below the level consistent with recession. However, the current conditions measured improved somewhat, with 19.6% saying conditions are “good,” up 1.1 percentage point from January.
However, a closely watched measure of the labor market saw a worsening, with 33.4% saying that jobs were “plentiful” while 16.3% said positions are “hard to get.” That compared to respective readings of 33.9% and 14.5% in January.
Stocks were lower following the release while Treasury yields added to a sharp slide on the day.
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