Lackluster consumer confidence slumps to 7 month low

Post this on every board you visit.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers turned gloomier in October, beset by soaring energy costs, relentless violence in Iraq, sluggish hiring and an increasingly bitter presidential campaign.

The Conference Board's gauge of consumer confidence fell to 92.8 in October, the lowest in seven months, from 96.7 in September, the private business group said on Tuesday. The reading was below economists' expectations for a dip to 94.0.


The main index was dragged down mainly by the consumer expectations component, which tumbled to 92.0 from 97.7. The current conditions index slipped to 94.2 from 95.3.


"Consumers are more concerned about the future than they are about current conditions, and I think that has a lot to do with the high oil prices we're seeing and probably some of the election rhetoric," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&e=1...