Consumer confidence weakened slightly in October as Americans remain anxious about their future financial prospects. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell by 1 point to 94.6 in October from an upwardly revised September reading of 95.6. Analysts were expecting the reading to come in unchanged from the previous month. One year ago, the reading was 109.5. A measure of Americans' short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market dipped by 2.9 points to 71.5, remaining well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. However, consumers' assessments of their current economic situation rose 1.8 points to 129.3.
Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs push up the cost of a range of goods, including furniture, clothing, and large appliances. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May. Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for Trump, who promised during last year's presidential campaign to immediately lower costs only to engage in a whipsawed frenzy of tariffs. Trump has declared that the U.S. effectively has no more inflation as he has attempted to pressure Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell into cutting short-term interest rates.
An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve remained high last month even before the impact of most tariffs has been felt. Americans' spending rebounded in February after a fall last month and incomes increased. Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices increased 2.5% in February from a year earlier, matching January's annual pace. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, higher than January's figure of 2.7%. Inflation remains a top economic concern for most Americans, even as it has fallen sharply from its 2022 peak.
U.S. inflation slowed last month for the first time since September even as additional tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in Wednesday that could send prices higher. The consumer price index increased 2.8% in February from a year ago, Wednesday's report from the Labor Department showed, down from 3% the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 3.1% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in January. The core figure is the lowest in nearly four years. The declines were larger than economists expected, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.
Inflation in the United States cooled in June for a third straight month, a sign that the worst price spike in four decades is steadily fading and may soon usher in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. In a better-than-expected report, consumer prices declined 0.1% from May to June after having remained flat the previous month, the government said Thursday. Measured from 12 months earlier, prices were up 3% in June, down from 3.3% in May. The latest inflation readings could help convince the Fed's policymakers that inflation is returning to its 2% target.
