US stocks mixed as investors digest Fed comments, consumer confidence dips

Consumer confidence fell in September as Americans grew more concerned about the job market.

the Last indicator reading The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index came in at 98.7, down from 105.6 in August and below what 104 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected. The drop in consumer confidence from August to September was the biggest monthly decline since August 2021, according to the Conference Board.

“Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned negative while their views on the current labor market situation declined further,” Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, said in the statement. “Consumers also became more pessimistic about future labor market conditions and less positive about future job conditions and future income.”

The data release deadline was Sept. 17, meaning respondents responded to the survey before the Federal Reserve announced it would cut its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point on Sept. 18. But there were several signs of labor market weakness before consumers responded.

The unemployment rate has been rising steadily throughout 2024 to 4.2%, just below its highest level in nearly three years. Meanwhile, job openings in August were at their lowest level since January 2021.

In the September consumer survey, 18.3% of consumers said “getting jobs is hard,” compared with 16.8%.

“The deterioration in the major components of the index likely reflects consumers’ concerns about the labor market and their reactions to reduced working hours, slower wage increases, and fewer job openings — even if the labor market remains quite healthy, with low unemployment, few layoffs, and rising wages,” Peterson added. “The share of consumers who expect a recession in the next 12 months remained low, but there was a slight increase in the share of consumers who believe the economy is already in recession.”