Written by Doug Short and Steven Hansen

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index declined to 97.6 from the September final reading of 102.6, a downward revision of September’s initial 103.0. The market expected (from Bloomberg) this index to come in between 100.0 to 106.0 (consensus 102.5).

Note that this data is considered preliminary, and the cutoff for these results was 15 October 2015.

Here is an excerpt from The Conference Board:

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased moderately in September, declined in October. The Index now stands at 97.6 (1985=100), down from 102.6 in September. The Present Situation Index decreased from 120.3 last month to 112.1 in October, while the Expectations Index edged down to 88.0 from 90.8 in September.

“Consumer confidence declined in October, following September’s modest gain,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers were less positive in their assessment of present-day conditions, in particular the job market, and were moderately less optimistic about the short-term outlook. Despite the decline, consumers still rate current conditions favorably, but they do not anticipate the economy strengthening much in the near-term.”

Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions was somewhat less positive in October. Those saying business conditions are “good” decreased from 28.1 percent to 26.5 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased from 16.4 percent to 18.3 percent. Consumers were also less upbeat about the job market. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” decreased from 24.8 percent to 22.2 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” edged up to 25.8 percent from 24.9 percent.

Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook was more subdued in October. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months was unchanged at 18.1 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen inched up to 10.6 percent from 10.4 percent.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was slightly less optimistic. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead declined moderately from 14.9 percent to 14.5 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs increased from 15.9 percent to 16.9 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined from 18.7 percent to 18.0 percent, while the proportion expecting a decline increased from 9.9 percent to 10.7 percent.