Consumer Confidence Index Slips: Data a New Sign Of Halting Recovery
ConsumersÛª confidence m the economy continued to slide this month, the Conference Board reported yesterday, the latest sign of a halting recovery from the recession that ended nearly two years ago.</br></br>The decline in the index of consumer confidence was the fourth drop in five months following a brief Christmas euphoria that saw a surge in consumer spending. The May reading of 6L5 now stands at its lowest point since last October. A 100 reading reflects the confidence levels of 1985.</br></br>The whole issue now is jobsÛÓwe see it dear as a bell,'Ûª said Fabian Linden, who directs the monthly study at the Conference Board, a private business research organization. The report showed that only one in eight Americans expects the job market to grow in the next six months.</br></br>leagues and neighbors losing jobs at supposedly solid companies and graduating students unable to get jobs. There's a lot of anxiety out there" he said.</br></br>Speaking to a Dallas gathering of business leaders yesterday. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said conditions are ripe for a major expansion in job growth, predicting an end to large-scale layoffs as the nationÛªs corporate downsizing frees up new money.