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May consumer confidence falls to near 16-year low

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Wretched Excess:

--- Quote ---May consumer confidence falls to near 16-year low

NEW YORK (AP) - Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 57.2, down from a revised 62.8 in April. Economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR had expected a reading of 60.

The May reading marks the fifth straight month of decline and is the lowest since the index registered 54.6 in October 1992 when the economy was coming out of a recession.

Economists closely watch sentiment readings since consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.

"Weakening business and job conditions coupled with growing pessimism about the short-term future have further depleted consumers' confidence in the overall state of the economy," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

Franco said consumers' worries about inflation, fueled by increasing prices at the gas pump, are now at an "all-time high" and are likely to rise further in the months ahead. She added that based on consumers' outlook on the economy, she believes there's little likelihood of a quick turnaround.

Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wachovia Corp., agreed, saying that as "awful as these numbers" look, he doesn't believe that confidence has bottomed out yet, an ominous sign for consumer spending.

More Gloom Here

--- End quote ---


ah, finally.  a story the MSM can sink it's teeth into!  we ARE doomed.  Thank God.  for a minute there, things were really looking bad. :whatever:

Zeus:
A self fullfilling Prophesy.

formerlurker:
Gas and grocery prices are through the roof, and I have been more than annoyed.    I am still stinging from the price of filling my oil tank the other day.

Does it stop me from shopping? Hells no.


 :-)

Wretched Excess:


and just in case you weren't paying proper attention earlier, this just blared all over the place from
a good portion of the MSM . . . just in time for the evening news broadcasts, naturally.

GAS PRICES RISE 15 CENTS IN ONE WEEK; THE NATIONAL AVERAGE FOR A GALLON OF REGULAR UNLEADED NOW AT A RECORD $3.94, ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Thor:
Gas prices be damned....... my small Sears store posted approx $200K in appliance sales alone this weekend. The State of Texas decided to have a tax holiday on any energy star appliance. That, coupled with a 15% sale by the store resulted in tremendous sales this weekend. Sears at Valley View Mall in Dallas posted $118 K in appliance sales on Monday alone. Yet, people were STILL at the lakes, etc. Gas prices didn't slow them down, one iota. Money is out there to be spent, people are just being a bit more frugal nowadays.

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