US consumer confidence falls to 12-year low in September
The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to 81.9 as views of current conditions and the six-month outlook weakened.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
US consumer confidence September 2026 fell to its lowest level since 2014, according to The Conference Board, as Americans reported a weaker view of both current conditions and the months ahead. The index dropped 6.7 points from August to 81.9, a result released just over a month before congressional midterm elections.
The September reading was below all forecasts in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. A Reuters poll of economists had projected a reading of 89.2, according to the Economic Times and Quartz.
Why did US consumer confidence fall in September?
The Conference Board said consumers’ written responses were largely pessimistic. References to prices, the cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices reached new highs, which the organization said reflected a September rise in fuel costs.
Those responses describe concerns reported by consumers rather than proving that higher prices caused the decline. The survey also recorded elevated, though lower than in August, references to war and conflict, while politics, trade and employment were mentioned less often, The Conference Board said.
What did the confidence survey measure?
The Conference Board separately reported declines in assessments of present conditions and in expectations for the coming six months. Its Present Situation Index, which tracks views of current business and labor-market conditions, fell 7.9 points to 109.3.
The Expectations Index, which covers the short-term outlook for income, business conditions and the labor market, declined 5.9 points to 63.6. That was its third straight monthly fall, according to The Conference Board.
Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned negative for the first time since September 2024, the organization said. Views of the current labor market also worsened, though they remained positive, while respondents expected both business conditions and the labor market to weaken over the next six months.
What does the reading mean before the midterms?
The preliminary survey was conducted from September 1 through September 23, a period that included a federal-funds-rate increase and ongoing geopolitical tensions, The Conference Board said. The release does not identify those developments as causes of the confidence drop.
Confidence declined among Democrats, Republicans and independents, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and Quartz citing the Conference Board. The data offer a monthly measure of household attitudes and expectations; they do not predict an election result.
More detail on the index and its components is available in The Conference Board’s September release.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.