WASHINGTON (FNS) -- American consumers may be getting a little spooked by stock market jitters and terrorist attacks overseas, though it's premature to say consumer spending is about to tank, a new report indicates.
Consumer confidence, often a bellwether of coming spending trends, fell in August for the second consecutive month, according to the Conference Board's monthly survey of 5,000 households.
August's preliminary Confidence Index of 133.1 is off 4.1 points from July's level and is down 5.1 points from June's 138.2, which marked the historic high for this survey, since its inception in 1969. The latest report was researched before last week's extreme volatility in the stock market.
"Consumer concern about the economy over the next six months was the key reason for the August decline in overall confidence," said Lynn Franco, associate director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.
"Some of this disenchantment may have been caused by turmoil in the financial markets both in the U.S. and abroad, and to recent attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya," Franco said.
The board's survey of consumers' outlooks and expectations showed concern rising somewhat, but certainly not a panic. The index's Present Situation component declined to 171.5 in August from 172.9 in July, which marked the high-water mark so far this year.
The Expectations component, which measured consumers' general feelings in August about the nation's economic future, slid to 107.5 from 113.4 in July and 116.2 in June.
The board's August employment and business conditions indexes also showed consumers are at least somewhat wary about the near future. Asked whether they expected business conditions to get better in the next six months, 16.8 percent of consumers surveyed said yes, down from 19.7 percent in July and the lowest level in a year.
Another 6.4 percent of those surveyed said they expected business conditions to get worse in the next six months, up from 5.4 percent in July and also the highest "negative" rating in a year.
Meanwhile, 16.8 percent responded they expect the economy to create more jobs in the next six months, down from 19.7 percent in July, while 13.1 percent of consumers surveyed said they believe the economy will generate fewer jobs through January, an increase from 11.8 percent in July.
"I'm not surprised at the [board's] report, since consumers are starting to feel a bit more worried about how they spend," said Adelle Kirk, associate director of consumer marketing with Kurt Salmon Associates, New York.
"Some consumers may feel the economic boom is coming to an end when they hear about the stock market falling, and so they start cutting back on things that are not necessities, increasing their savings," Kirk said.
The first products to take a "hit," she said, are apparel, cosmetics and jewelry, although meals away from home could suffer, too.
