U.S. consumer confidence fell in March after hitting a three-year high in the prior month as expectations about jobs and income growth worsened, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.
KEY POINTS: * The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 63.4 in March from a revised 72.0 in February. The median of forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters was for a reading of 65.0. Forecasts ranged from 55.0 to 72.0. * The expectations index slipped to 81.1 from 97.5, while consumers' expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months hit its highest level since October 2008. * The present situation index rose to 36.9 from 33.8. Consumers' labor market assessment worsened. The "jobs hard to get" index rose to 44.6 percent from 44.4 percent the month before, while the "jobs plentiful" index slipped to 4.4 percent from 4.9 percent.
COMMENTS:
CARY LEAHEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND SENIOR ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK:
"The Conference Board's consumer confidence index was worse than expected. Most people were looking for a five-point decline and you ended up with a seven-point decline. This basically takes the index back to where it was in December. It's making a similar move to the Reuters/(University of) Michigan index which has already been released.
"We don't know why it fell because this report does not have the texture of the (Reuters/UMich report) but the obvious suspects are an increase in uncertainty capped by the rise in oil prices, nervousness about Japan, and finally and most importantly in this index, though we only know this implicitly, people know there are fewer layoffs, but there haven't been a lot of jobs created.
"The view of the job situation declined a bit. The number of people who thought there were more jobs out there went down. Perceptions about the job market are what usually drive
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