WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After reporting a substantial improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the previous month, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday unexpectedly showing a slight drop in confidence in the month of October.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index edged down to 100.9 in October after jumping to a revised 101.3 in September.
The pullback surprised economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 102.0 from the 101.8 originally reported for the previous month.
'Consumers' assessment of current conditions improved while expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in the short-term outlook for jobs,' said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.
She added, 'There is little to suggest that consumers foresee the economy gaining momentum in the final months of 2020, especially with COVID-19 cases on the rise and unemployment still high.'
The report said the present situation index climbed to 104.6 in October from 98.9 in September, while the expectations index slid to 98.4 from 102.9.
On Friday, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its revised reading on consumer sentiment in the month of October.
The consumer sentiment index for October is expected to be unrevised from the preliminary reading of 81.2, which was up from 80.4 in September.
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