U.S. consumer confidence falls sharply

A monthly poll shows consumers’ confidence has taken a surprisingly sharp fall in February amid rising job worries. The decline ends three straight months of improvement and raises concerns about the economic recovery. The Conference Board says its Consumer Confidence Index fell almost 11 points to 46 in February, down from a revised 56.5 in January. Analysts were expecting only a slight decrease to 55. One gauge, measuring consumers’ assessment of current conditions, dropped to 19.4 from 25.2, the lowest level since 1983. Another gauge, which measures consumers’ outlook over the next six months, had been rising since October but fell to 63.8 from 77.3. The overall Consumer Confidence Index hit a historic low of 25.3 in February 2009, but climbed in the next three consecutive months to reach 54.8 in May, fueled by signs the economy might be stabilizing. Since then, it has been mired in a narrow range, dropping as low as 47, as rising unemployment took a toll, before climbing again for a three-month stretch. February’s reading is well below the 61.4 figure in September 2008, when the financial crisis intensified with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The index has had an average reading of 95.6 since the Conference Board starting tracking the figures in 1967.