Robust Labor Market Severs Sentiment-Spending Link
US consumer confidence dropped to a five-month low in October, not surprising given dysfunction in D.C., lingering inflation concerns and the long shadow of war.
October's decline, though not as bad as feared, was the third consecutive. The headline print, at 102.6, beat the 100.5 consensus.
Recall that confidence jumped in June and July as inflation worries receded, stocks rallied and the debt ceiling standoff was resolved in reasonably amicable fashion.
Both the present situation gauge an
The depressed attitude probably has more to do with higher borrowing costs than anything else.