The Conference Board’s American consumer confidence index weakened

The Conference Board said on Tuesday that the indicator weakened to 101.3 points in April from 104 points in March. The average of analysts’ expectations was a stagnant indicator of 104 points for April.

The current situation index – which is based on consumers’ assessment of the current business and labor market conditions – rose to 151.1 points from 148.9 points in March, while the expectations index compiled on the basis of consumers’ short-term income, business and labor market prospects fell to 68.1 points in April from 74.0 points in March.

The Conference Board recalled that in 13 of the last 14 months – since February 2022 – the expectations index has been below 80, which often predicts a recession within a year.