US consumer confidence hits its lowest level since 2014 ahead of midterms

Rising goods and fuel costs are cited as key factors in the sharp drop in consumer confidence.

The report shows that consumers are worried about the rising cost of goods [File: Nathan Howard/Reuters]

United States consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, just over one month before the congressional midterm elections.

Consumers pointed to higher costs for goods and services as the primary reason for the decline, according to The Conference Board, which released its monthly report on Tuesday.

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“The Consumer Confidence Index deteriorated notably in September, following two prior months of softening,” Dana M Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, said in a release announcing the report.

Consumers pointed to higher prices at the pump as one of the driving factors. The average price for a gallon (3.78 litres) of petrol has jumped 37 cents over the past month, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. The average price stood at $4.45 on Tuesday, compared with $4.08 a month ago.

“Oil and gas prices in particular rose to new heights, reflecting September’s surge in fuel costs. Comments about war/conflict eased this month but remained elevated,” Peterson said.

The consumer confidence report comes a day ahead of a key inflation report that the Federal Reserve uses to gauge the state of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, which was up 3.7 percent in June from a year earlier.

The US central bank raised interest rates for the first time in three years earlier this month, driving up costs of credit cards and car and bank loans. It is set to make another decision on interest rates at its October 27-28 meeting, putting pressure on Republicans as consumer sentiment tumbles across political affiliations.

Consumer confidence fell among all political affiliations, according to the report, the second-to-last major consumer confidence reading before the midterm elections, which will determine the balance of power in Washington, DC.

US consumers think the Democratic Party would handle the economy better than their Republican counterparts, with 42 percent saying Democrats would do a better job compared with 34 percent for Republicans, according to a recent Marist poll.

US markets are only slightly lower as the trading day comes to a close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 0.08 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 was down 0.1 percent.

商品和燃料成本上涨被认为是导致消费者信心急剧下降的关键因素。

报告显示，消费者对商品价格上涨感到担忧。[图片：Nathan Howard/路透社]

距离国会中期选举仅剩一个多月，美国消费者信心指数已跌至 2014 年以来的最低水平。

据世界大型企业联合会周二发布的月度报告显示，消费者指出商品和服务价格上涨是导致消费下降的主要原因。

列表 1/4：美联储三年来首次加息

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中国面临石油挑战，油价飙升，供应选择减少（共4条，此为第3条）。

特朗普称将撤销拜登时代美国汽车燃油经济性法规（共4条，此为第4条）

“继前两个月走软之后，9月份消费者信心指数显著恶化，”世界大型企业联合会首席经济学家达纳·M·彼得森在发布该报告的新闻稿中表示。

消费者指出，油价上涨是主要原因之一。据追踪每日油价的美国汽车协会（AAA）数据显示，过去一个月，每加仑（3.78升）汽油的平均价格上涨了37美分。周二的平均油价为每加仑4.45美元，而一个月前为每加仑4.08美元。

“石油和天然气价格尤其飙升至新高，反映出9月份燃料成本的飙升。本月有关战争/冲突的言论有所减少，但仍然居高不下，”彼得森说。

消费者信心报告发布前一天，美联储将发布关键的通胀报告，即个人消费支出（PCE）指数，该指数用于衡量通胀状况。6 月份 PCE 指数比上年同期上涨了 3.7%。

本月初，美联储三年来首次加息，推高了信用卡、汽车贷款和银行贷款的成本。美联储将在10月27日至28日的会议上再次就利率做出决定，随着消费者信心在各党派之间持续下滑，此举将给共和党带来压力。

报告显示，所有政治派别的消费者信心均有所下降。这是中期选举前倒数第二次重要的消费者信心指数，而中期选举将决定华盛顿特区的权力平衡。

根据马里斯特最近的一项民意调查，美国消费者认为民主党比共和党更能妥善处理经济问题，42% 的受访者认为民主党会做得更好，而认为共和党会做得更好的受访者仅占 34%。

美国股市收盘时小幅下跌。科技股为主的纳斯达克指数收跌0.08%，道琼斯工业平均指数下跌0.2%，标准普尔500指数下跌0.1%。