US consumer confidence plunges in April

Reuters

Tue, Apr 29, 2025, 7:14 AM 2 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. user assurance slumped to a astir five-year debased successful April arsenic increasing concerns implicit tariffs weighed connected the economical outlook.

The Conference Board said connected Tuesday its user assurance scale dropped 7.9 points to 86.0 this month, the lowest speechmaking since May 2020. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the scale sliding to 87.5.

The Present Situation Index, based connected consumers' appraisal of existent concern and labour marketplace conditions, fell 0.9 constituent to 133.5. The Expectations Index, based connected consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labour marketplace conditions, slid 12.5 points to 54.4 - the lowest level since October 2011 and good beneath the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead.

"Consumer assurance declined for a 5th consecutive period successful April, falling to levels not seen since the onset of the COVID pandemic," said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators astatine The Conference Board.

The authorities is expected to study connected Wednesday that economical maturation braked sharply successful the archetypal quarter, amid a surge successful imports arsenic businesses raced to bring successful goods to debar higher costs from duties.

Consumer spending besides apt slowed down considerably, hampered by still-high ostentation arsenic good arsenic worries astir the interaction of tariffs connected the economy, which prompted immoderate households to chopped backmost connected depletion to sphere savings.

Gross home merchandise apt accrued astatine a 0.3% annualized complaint successful the January-March quarter, which would beryllium the weakest since the 2nd 4th of 2022, a Reuters survey showed.

Risks are tilted to the downside. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting GDP declining astatine a 0.4% complaint aft adjusting for imports and exports of gold. The system grew astatine a 2.4% gait successful the 4th quarter.

(This communicative has been refiled to close the period to April, from March, successful paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)