Consumer comfort in US eases as attitudes on economy falter

[WASHINGTON] Consumer confidence in the US eased last week, with Americans becoming more pessimistic about the state of the economy as global financial markets turned south.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort index fell to 41.4 in the week ended Aug. 30 from 42 the previous period. About half of the survey interviews were collected during the recent stock- market sell-off, said Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates, which compiles the data for Bloomberg.

The measure of Americans' views of the economy fell to 32.7 from 34.6, the biggest drop since late February. The index tracking the buying climate, which indicates whether consumers think now is a good time to purchase goods and services, declined to 36.9 from 37.2. The personal finances gauge was little changed at 54.6 from 54.3.

Thursday's confidence report shows a more subdued slide than the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, which fell in August to a three-month low of 91.9 from 93.1 in July.

BLOOMBERG