Consumer confidence falls below 50%

Americans’ economic sentiment’s recent uptick was short-lived as the Ipsos-Forbes Advisor U.S. Consumer Confidence Tracker shows a decrease in its main index of 2.2 points from two weeks ago. The index dipped back below the 50-point mark, where it had been from early June until mid-August. It now sits seven points lower than it did at the beginning of the year.

The Current and Investment sub-indices have declined by more than 4 points from two weeks ago. Both sub-indices now sit below the 40-point mark for the sixth and fourth times this year, respectively. For context, neither the Current nor the Investment index dropped below this mark in 2021.

The Jobs sub-index remains volatile and shows a drop of nearly two points from its last reading. Americans’ purchasing confidence is also down significantly as two in three report being less comfortable making both major and other household purchases than they were six months ago.