WASHINGTON -
October 28, 2008 - Layoffs, plunging home prices and tumbling investments have
pushed consumer pessimism to record levels in October, a private research group
said Tuesday. Wall Street shook it off, though; focusing instead on higher
global markets amid optimism the Federal Reserve will ease interest rates
further.
The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index fell to 38, down from a revised 61.4 in September and significantly below analysts' expectations of 52.
That's the lowest level for the index since the Conference Board began tracking consumer sentiment in 1967, and the third-steepest drop. A year ago, the index stood at 95.2.
The Conference Board said its present situation index decreased to 41.9 in October from 61.1 last month, while the expectations index, which measures consumers' outlook for the next six months, plummeted to 35.5 from 61.5.
“These numbers are extraordinarily awful,” Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
On Tuesday, Whirlpool Corp. said it will cut 5,000 jobs. That's on top of other recent layoffs of thousands of workers by Xerox Corp., drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. and financial services firm National City Corp.