August Consumer Confidence Downside Surprise

Conference Board indicator registers decline relative to downwardly revised July confidence:

Figure 1: U.Michigan Economic Sentiment (blue), Conference Board Confidence Index (brown), Gallup Confidence (green), all demeaned and divided by standard deviation 2021M01-2025m02. Source: UMichigan, Gallup, Conference Board, and author’s calculations.

While perceptions of current conditions improved, expectations declined and remain mired at low levels.