US Consumer Confidence Near 12½-Year Low Amid Labour Market Fears

• US consumer confidence fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September 2026, its lowest level since April 2014, as households became more pessimistic about business and labour-market conditions over the next six months. Economists polled by Reuters expected the index to be 89.2.
• The deterioration in confidence was broad-based across political affiliation, age and income groups. Consumers increasingly cited prices, the high cost of goods and services, and oil and gas prices, as the Middle East conflict and higher interest rates continued to weigh on household sentiment.
• Consumers’ assessment of the labour market also weakened. The share of consumers saying jobs were “plentiful” fell to 23.6%, the lowest since February 2021, while those saying jobs were “hard to get” increased to 21.9%, the highest since January 2021. The Conference Board’s labour-market differential consequently narrowed to 1.7% from 4.2% in August.
• Separate Labour Department data showed job openings fell by 256,000 to 7.079Mn in August, below economists’ expectations of 7.225Mn. There were 1.01 job openings for every unemployed person, down from 1.06 in July and well below the roughly 2.0 ratio reached in 2022.
• Despite weaker labour demand, layoffs remained low and hiring has been relatively subdued rather than collapsing. This suggests employers remain cautious about expanding their workforces amid uncertainty, but are also not cutting jobs aggressively.
• Weaker consumer confidence and declining job openings point to softer labour demand and growing household caution. However, historically low layoffs suggest the labour market has not deteriorated sharply, allowing the Federal Reserve to continue prioritising inflation risks despite weaker sentiment. Against this backdrop, financial markets were pricing in a roughly 68.1% chance of another rate increase in October, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

(Source: Reuters)