The Conference Board is out with its monthly assessment of consumer sentiments, saying that its Confidence Index fell in April to 101.3 (1985=100), down from 104.0 in March.
"The Present Situation Index - based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions - increased to 151.1 (1985=100) from 148.9 last month.
"The Expectations Index - based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions - fell to 68.1 (1985=100) from 74.0. The Expectations Index has now remained below 80 - the level associated with a recession within the next year - every month since February 2022, with the exception of a brief uptick in December 2022. The survey was fielded from April 3 - about three weeks after the bank failures in the United States - to April 19."
