US consumer confidence has declined sharply this month, reaching its lowest level since April, as consumers grew gloomier about business and job market conditions, while also fretting about the outlook ahead.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to 88.7 in November, down from October's 95.5 reading and below analyst expectations.
"All five components of the overall index flagged or remained weak," said The Conference Board's chief economist Dana Peterson on Tuesday.
Consumers were "less sanguine" about their current situations, she added, and "notably more pessimistic about business conditions six months from now."
"Mid-2026 expectations for labour market conditions remained decidedly negative, and expectations for increased household incomes shrank dramatically," Peterson said.
The issues that consumers cited in write-in responses covered inflation, tariffs and trade, as well as politics, the report said.
While President Donald Trump has imposed wave after wave of tariffs this year, higher import costs take time to flow through to consumers.
There were increased mentions of the federal government shutdown, which lasted 43 days and ended only in mid-November, Tuesday's report added.
The Conference Board said that consumers' plans for buying big-ticket items in the next half year declined in November, while they also pulled back on expected spending on services for this period.
