Consumer confidence tumbled in September as Americans grew increasingly worried about a cooling labor market.
The latest index reading from the Conference Board was 98.7, below the 105.6 seen in August and lower than what the 104 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected. The drop in consumer confidence from August to September was the largest decline since August 2021, according to the Conference Board.
"Consumers' assessments of current business conditions turned negative while views of the current labor market situation softened further," Conference Board chief economist Dana Peterson said in the release. "Consumers were also more pessimistic about future labor market conditions and less positive about future business conditions and future income."
The cutoff date for the release was Sept. 17, meaning respondents replied to the survey before the Fed announced it would cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point on Sept. 18. But there had been several signs of softening in the labor market before consumers replied.