The survey also showed growing pessimism among respondents about job availability
America’s economic mood is souring as worries about the labor market mount.
The Conference Board’s latest survey of American consumers, released Tuesday, showed that consumer confidence declined sharply this month to a reading of 88.7, the lowest level since April, when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs.
“Consumers’ write-in responses pertaining to factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation, tariffs and trade, and politics, with increased mentions of the federal government shutdown,” Dana Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist, said in a release. The government shutdown ended earlier this month, so consumer confidence could rebound in December.
The survey also showed growing pessimism among respondents about job availability and income prospects in the next six months.
“Mid-2026 expectations for labor market conditions remained decidedly negative, and expectations for increased household incomes shrunk dramatically, after six months of strongly positive readings,” Peterson said.
There have been high-profile announcements of layoffs in recent weeks, but that doesn’t immediately translate into higher unemployment, which was at a low 4.4% rate in September, according to the latest Labor Department data.