US consumer confidence falls to nine-year low
ABC/Money
Tue March 25, 2003 06:30 PM ET
reuters.com
NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fell to the lowest level in nearly a decade last week, reflecting economic uncertainty and the effect of rising gasoline prices ahead of the fighting in Iraq, a survey showed on Tuesday.
ABC News/Money Magazine said their weekly Consumer Comfort index fell to -28 in the week ended March 23 from -25 in the prior week. The index, a scale of plus-100 to minus-100, surpassed the nine-year low of -27 it reached during the week of Jan. 19, 2003 to reach its lowest level since December 1993.
Only 21 percent of respondents rated the economy in excellent or good shape, down a point from 22 percent in the previous week.
The survey's buying climate gauge, which assesses Americans' willingness to part with their cash, fell to 33 percent from 34 percent.
Americans' outlook on their personal finances also fell, with 54 percent of respondents rating their situation as excellent or good, down from 55 percent.
The weekly ABC/Money poll is based on 1,006 interviews with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. |
