U.S. Consumer Confidence at 6-Month Low

Apr 06, 10:10 AM

Current Headlines: U.S. consumer confidence sank to a six-month low, weighed down by rising gasoline prices and real estate turmoil, a nationwide survey said Friday.

The April RBC CASH index, released by the RBC Financial Group, fell 6.9 points to 85.4 from 92.3 in March.

The decline in consumer confidence to its lowest level since October is consistent with the increasing price of gasoline, rising mortgage rates and continuing headlines about the housing correction, RBC Capital Markets economic and fixed-income strategist T.J. Marta said.

Overall, the across-the-board downturn may indicate further erosion of economic confidence in coming months, especially if gas prices continue to increase, Marta said.

AAA said Friday the average U.S. retail regular unleaded gasoline price was $2.723 a gallon. A month ago the average price was $2.50.

The RBC index is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies and personal finance.

This month's findings were based on a representative nationwide sampling of 1,000 U.S. adults polled Monday through Wednesday by Washington research company Ipsos Public Affairs. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points.