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The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September, while consumers’ written comments about prices and fuel costs reached new highs, the organization said. Its current-conditions and short-term expectations measures also declined; the report does not establish how much of the drop reflects prices versus other concerns.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September as consumers’ written comments about prices, goods and services, and oil and gas costs reached new highs, the organization said in a Tuesday release. The decline matters because the report also showed weaker assessments of current business and labor conditions and a less optimistic short-term outlook.
The index measuring consumers’ views of current business and labor market conditions dropped 7.9 points to 109.3. A separate measure of expectations for income, business and labor conditions over the short term fell 5.9 points to 63.6, according to the release. The figures describe survey results; they do not, by themselves, measure changes in employment, income or prices.
Conference Board Chief Economist Dana M. Peterson said write-in responses about factors affecting the economy were mostly pessimistic. References to prices and the high cost of goods and services, particularly oil and gas, rose to new highs, which Peterson linked to a September surge in fuel costs. The report did not provide a count of those references or a numerical measure of how much they contributed to the index decline.
Peterson said mentions of war and conflict eased during September but remained elevated. Separately, the American Automobile Association reported Thursday, Sept. 24, that the national average gas price was the highest it had ever been for this time of year. That comparison is specific to the calendar period; it does not mean the price was an all-time record across every time of year.
Prices Weigh on Consumer Outlook
The September readings show that consumer confidence weakened alongside heightened concern about household costs. For consumers, fuel prices can affect budgets directly through fill-ups and indirectly through expenses tied to transporting goods and services. The Conference Board release identifies fuel costs as a prominent subject in consumer comments, but it does not quantify the effect on household budgets or isolate fuel as the cause of the index decline.
The fall in both the current-conditions and expectations measures gives businesses and policymakers a signal that consumers viewed the economic outlook less favorably in September. Confidence surveys can help track perceptions that may influence decisions about large purchases and spending. They are not a direct tally of spending, and this report alone does not show whether households changed their buying behavior or whether the views reported will persist.
The short-term expectations measure stood at 63.6 after its monthly decline. That figure indicates the survey’s reported level, not a percentage of consumers who expect conditions to worsen. Keeping that distinction clear matters: survey indexes capture responses under a defined methodology, while separate measures are needed to establish what consumers actually spend or what happens to prices and jobs.
September Surveys Point Down
The Conference Board’s result came amid other reports of weaker consumer sentiment. The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers reported Monday, Sept. 28, that its final September Index for Consumer Sentiment fell 7% from the prior month and 12.7% from a year earlier. The survey cited high prices and renewed trade-dispute concerns. These are separate surveys with different indexes and methods, so their readings should not be combined as if they measured one common scale.
Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said interviews showed broad agreement across the political spectrum that the economic outlook had weakened since the start of the year. In the report, Hsu said Republican sentiment was 20% below its January 2026 level and Democratic sentiment was 13% lower over the same period. Those comparisons refer to the survey’s sentiment measure and its January baseline, not to consumer confidence across all surveys.
PYMNTS also reported that its Consumer Expectations Index fell 0.7 points to 54.1 in September as views of the economy, buying conditions and job mobility weakened. Its account said concerns about the overall economy and the timing of major purchases drove most of that decline. The different index adds another measure of consumer expectations but cannot establish that the Conference Board’s movement had the same causes or magnitude.
““Overall, interviews reveal broad agreement across the political spectrum that the outlook for the economy has weakened since the beginning of the year.””
— Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers
Survey Results Leave Causes Open
The Conference Board’s release reports the index changes and summarizes what consumers wrote, but it does not publish a numerical breakdown showing how much each concern contributed to the decline. It is also not clear from the provided figures whether respondents were reacting mainly to recent fuel prices, broader costs, labor-market views, or several factors at once.
The available reports do not establish whether weaker confidence will translate into lower spending, delayed purchases or changes in hiring. The University of Michigan, Conference Board and PYMNTS figures come from distinct measures, and their results cannot be treated as interchangeable. Future readings and spending data will be needed to show whether September marked a lasting change or a temporary deterioration in sentiment.
Watch October Confidence Data
The next useful step is to compare the Conference Board’s next monthly release with September’s results, including whether the current-conditions and expectations measures continue to fall and whether price references remain elevated. The September release does not specify what those future readings will show.
Readers can also track subsequent fuel-price reports and other consumer surveys for evidence of whether the concerns reported in September persist. Any conclusion about household spending or the broader economy will require those later observations, alongside measures that record actual prices, employment and purchasing activity.
Key Questions
What did the Conference Board report for September?
Its Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.7 points to 81.9. The organization also said references to prices and fuel costs in consumers’ written comments reached new highs.
Which parts of the index declined?
The measure of current business and labor conditions fell 7.9 points to 109.3. The short-term expectations measure for income, business and labor conditions dropped 5.9 points to 63.6.
Did the report show that fuel prices caused the confidence decline?
Peterson linked the rise in fuel-cost references to September’s surge in fuel costs. The release does not quantify fuel’s contribution to the index decline or show that it was the sole cause.
How did other September sentiment surveys compare?
The University of Michigan reported that its September sentiment index was down 7% from August and 12.7% from a year earlier. PYMNTS said its separate Consumer Expectations Index slipped 0.7 points to 54.1. These surveys use different measures and are not directly interchangeable.
Source: rss
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