Consumer Confidence Falls Again in Sept. Tuesday September 28, 11:52 AM EDT By Dena Aubin NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence edged lower again in September after falling in August, as persistent worries about the job market weighed on sentiment, a report on Tuesday said. The Conference Board, a private forecasting group, said its index of the mood of U.S. consumers fell to 96.8 from a revised 98.7 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise to 99.0. Consumer worries about the labor market have clouded the outlook for consumer spending, which powers two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Soaring oil prices, which crimped spending in the second quarter, pose another threat to economic growth. "Confidence in the state of the economy is diminished and within that, confidence on job prospects is the biggest factor," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. "I would guess that the impact of higher oil prices is feeding through as well. The problem with energy prices is that when they rise, there's nowhere to run." The percentage of consumers surveyed who said jobs were hard to get rose to 28.3 percent from 26.0 percent, while those seeing jobs as plentiful fell to 16.8 percent from 18.4 percent. "The recent declines in the index were caused primarily by a deterioration in consumers' assessment of employment conditions," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said. "Soft labor market conditions have clearly taken a toll on consumer confidence." The softer-than-expected reading on consumer sentiment initially pushed Treasury prices higher as it raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may slow its pace of interest rates increases. But gains were trimmed later on profit-taking. The Conference Board's present situation index fell to 95.5 from 100.7 in August, while the expectations component of the report edged up to 97.6 from 97.3. A damaging hurricane season may have skewed confidence numbers, said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons. "It still looks as if consumers' purchasing plans are holding steady, which is encouraging," he said. "It seems as if the increase in oil prices has not significantly changed those yet." A separate report on the retail sector on Tuesday suggested that consumers are more cautious in their spending than a year ago, however. The International Council of Shopping Centers/UBS survey showed chain store sales falling 0.3 percent last week, while year-on-year growth held at a moderate 3.5 percent. Annual growth was above 5.0 percent as recently as June. Another report, by independent company Redbook Research, showed that U.S. chain store sales rose by 2.9 percent on a year-over-year basis for the week ended Sept. 25, up only slightly from the preceding week's 2.6 percent pace. Part of the boost came from shoppers in the Southeast stocking up on hurricane supplies, Redbook said.
