US consumer confidence took a hit in December last year, with the Consumer Confidence Index declining by 8.1 points to 104.7 . This drop was largely driven by concerns about the future, with the Expectations Index tumbling 12.6 points to 81.1. The Present Situation Index, which measures consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell 1.2 points to 140.2.
Breaking it down further, consumers' views on current labor market conditions continued to improve, with 37% saying jobs were "plentiful," up from 33.6% in November. However, their assessment of business conditions weakened, with 19.1% saying business conditions were "good," down from 21.6% in November .
In terms of future expectations, consumers became less optimistic about business conditions, with 21.7% expecting improvement, down from 24.7% in November. They also became more pessimistic about future employment prospects, with 19.1% expecting more jobs to be available, down from 22.8% in November .
These findings suggest that while consumers are still confident about the present situation, they're becoming increasingly cautious about the future.#USConsumerConfidence