WASHINGTON: US consumer confidence slumped in February as high fuel and food prices ate into household budgets, souring a previously upbeat outlook. According to pollsters at The Conference Board, their consumer confidence index fell from 70.4 percent in February to 63.4 percent, as hopes for an improved economy in the future wilted. Amid Middle East turmoil and sustained demand from emerging economies, food and energy prices appear to have eroded confidence that had been at a three-year high. “Consumers' inflation expectations rose significantly in March and their income expectations soured,” said the Conference Board's research director Lynn Franco. Average US gasoline prices have risen 23 cents in the last month and are up nearly 80 cents from a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. US shoppers' worries about juggling rising gas and food prices and other household costs pushed the Consumer Confidence Index down sharply in March. The decline, which followed a three-year high in February and reversed five straight months of improvement, raises questions about shoppers' ability and willingness to spend in coming months. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell more than expected to 63.4 from a revised 72.0 in February. Shoppers' outlook over the next six months worsened. The part of the index measuring those expectations fell to 81.1 from 97.5 last month. The other gauge, which measures how consumers feel now about the economy, improved to 36.9 from 33.8 in February.
