American consumer confidence has begun to stumble at the start of the year, as recession fears grow.
The Conference Board, a business research group, reported on Jan. 31 that its consumer confidence index slightly fell 107.1 in January, down from 109 in December, which was the highest reading since April.
Households appear to be a bit less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and the chances of a recession begin to loom.
The news comes a week after the Fed’s preferred indicator of inflation, the Commerce Department’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, cooled to 5 percent in December from 5.5 percent the previous month….