EL7 reading puts US consumer confidence at 91.7 in October
Key Facts
EL7 data put the US consumer confidence index at 91.7 on October 27, against a forecast of 81 and a previous reading of 84.2. The figures reflect EL7’s internal calendar data, not an open official release from the Conference Board. The institution’s official page showed the September release, not October details. In that release, the Conference Board said the index fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September from 88.6 in August. This puts EL7’s October reading in the context of an earlier official decline, while October component figures remain unavailable in the open official source.
The September release showed declines in both components of the index: the Present Situation Index fell 7.9 points to 109.3, and the Expectations Index dropped 5.9 points to 63.6. The two indexes measure different aspects of consumers’ assessments, but official September data showed both falling. The Conference Board’s chief economist said consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned negative for the first time since September 2024. The institution also reported that consumers expected business conditions and the labor market to weaken over the next six months. These indicators provide official September context for comparison with the October reading recorded by EL7’s calendar.
In the labor market, the share of consumers who described jobs as plentiful fell to 23.6% in September from 24.5% in August. The share who said jobs were hard to get rose to 21.9% from 20.3%. On prices, average inflation expectations over the next 12 months stood at 6.1% in September, while the median was 5.1%. The share of consumers who expected interest rates to rise over the next 12 months also increased 5.2 percentage points to 68.4%. These figures are from official September data and do not represent October measurements.
In September, 42.6% of consumers planned to take a vacation over the next six months, according to the Conference Board. Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meetings for October 27 and 28, followed by the next meeting on December 8 and 9. An Associated Press report published on October 23 said economists expected gross domestic product to grow at an annual rate of 1.7% in the third quarter. The report said the Federal Reserve was expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The October reading reported in EL7’s calendar remains separate from the official September figures, pending the release of the open October data from the Conference Board.