US consumer confidence slumps

The worsening global financial crisis has pounded consumer confidence in the United States. In October it fell to a record low.

The Conference Board Consumer Research Centre, which compiles the data, carried out interviews
in 5,000 US households.

It found opinions like this: “I don’t know how long this is going to last, so we’ve got to save money. You’ve got to hold to what you have.”

The Conference Board said Americans have not been this pessimistic since it began tracking consumer sentiment in 1967.

Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the US economy which makes these figures particularly worrying for US retailers coming up to the holiday season.

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tags: Economy