The US consumer confidence it fell for the third consecutive month in Julyin a context of persistent concern about the acceleration of the inflation and the rise in interest rates, which points to lower economic growth at the beginning of the third quarter.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 2.7 points to a reading of 95.7 this month.
The survey’s current situation index, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell to 141.3 from 147.2 in June.
The expectations index, based on short-term prospects for income, business and labor market conditions, eased to 65.3 from 65.8 last month.
Concerns about inflation and rising gasoline and food prices, in particular, continued to weigh on consumers,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board in Washington.
“Looking ahead, inflation and more rate hikes likely be headwinds for consumer spending and economic growth in the next six months,” he added.