U.S. Consumer Confidence Shows Slight Deterioration In March

(RTTNews) - Consumer confidence in the U.S. edged slightly lower in the month of March, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slipped to 104.7 in March from a downwardly revised 104.8 in February.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to come in unchanged compared to the 106.7 originally reported for the previous month.

The modest decrease by the headline index came as an improvement in consumers' assessment of the present situation was offset by more pessimistic views about the future.

The report said the present situation index jumped to 151.0 in March from 147.6 in February, while the expectations index fell to 73.8 in March from 76.3 in February.

The Conference Board noted an expectations index reading below 80 often signals a forthcoming recession.

"Confidence rose among consumers aged 55 and over but deteriorated for those under 55," said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board. "Separately, consumers in the $50,000-$99,999 income group reported lower confidence in March, while confidence improved slightly in all other income groups."

She added, "However, over the last six months, confidence has been moving sideways with no real trend to the upside or downside either by income or age group."

On Thursday, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its revised reading on U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of March.

The consumer sentiment index for March is expected to be unrevised from the preliminary reading of 76.5, which was down from 76.9 in February.