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University of Michigan Consumer Confidence still near low
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U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest in three months in February as sentiment grew increasingly gloomy over an economic downturn that most expected to last five more years, a survey showed on Friday. The Reuters University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its index reading of confidence for February tumbled to 56.2 from 61.2 in January.
That was the lowest since November, when U.S. stocks hit 11-year lows during one of the worst periods of the current financial crisis. A separate reading in the report showed consumer expectations fell to their lowest since May 1980. Confidence fell in early February as consumers came to the consensus that the economy would remain in recession throughout 2009. Moreover, nearly two-thirds anticipated that the downturn would last five more years.
The main index was well below economists' median expectation for a reading of 61.0 culled from 60 forecasts in a Reuters poll that ranged from 56.5 to 64.0.
Posted: February 13, 2009 Friday 10:00 AM