Consumer Confidence Tumbles in July

The consumer confidence index declined to 97.1 in July from 106.3 the month before as concern over the stock market and corporate scandals increased, the Conference Board said Tuesday.

This index is a prognosticator of consumer spending. When people are worried about the economy, they are less likely to spend money, which hurts demand for trucking services.

This was the largest drop in the index since October. It has fallen from 110.3 since May. Economists had expected a reading of 101 for July, Bloomberg reported.

"The continued decline in the present situation index suggests that consumers would tend to curb their spending in the absence of offsetting incentives," said Lynn Franco, director of the board's Consumer Research Center.

The expectations index also declined in July, from 95.7 to 107.2 in June. The percentage of people anticipating an improvement in the months ahead fell to 20.9 from 23.7.

July's employment oulook also saw a modest decline, the Conference Board said.

The percent of consumers expecting more jobs to become available declined from 20.4 percent to 17.3 percent. About 19.5 percent of consumers expect their incomes to rise over the next six months, down from 20.9 percent last month.

The New York-based Conference Board's report is based on a survey of 5,000 households from July 1 through the start of last week.