US consumer confidence at lowest level since 2014

US consumer confidence, calculated by the Conference Board, fell to 84.5 points in January, which is the lowest reading since May 2014. Economists contacted by Bloomberg had predicted a reading of 91.0 points. The published reading fell below all individual forecasts. The Conference Board points out in its announcement that the reading also fell below the corona months.

At the same time, the research company significantly increased the previously announced December statistics. After the revision, the confidence figure for December was 94.2, while a reading of 89.1 points had previously been published.

According to the research institute, the index describing the current employment and economic situation fell by 9.9 points to 113.7 points. The index describing the future fell by 9.5 points to 65.1 points, while a reading of 80 points usually predicts a recession. The answers given before January 16, 2026 have been processed in the preliminary results.

“Consumer open-ended responses to factors affecting the economy continued to lean toward pessimism. References to prices and inflation, oil and gas prices, and food and grocery prices remained elevated. Mentions of tariffs and trade, politics and the labor market also rose in January, and references to health/insurance and war rose slightly,” the Conference Board’s chief economist Dana M Peterson said in the release.