Consumers see years of pain ahead

Confidence among U.S. consumers continued to erode in June as Americans prepared to deal with a still-worsening economy in the months and years ahead. The Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 56.4 in June, compared to 59.8 in May — the worst reading since May 1980 and significantly below the 85.3 recorded in June 2007. The final reading for the month was slightly lower than the preliminary reading of 56.7 (InvestmentNews, June 13) . “Perhaps the most significant development in the past few months is that two-thirds of all consumers now expect the economic slump to extend into the next several years,” said Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, according to a statement. The separate Index of Consumer Expectations, a measure of the Index of Leading Economic Indicators, was 49.2 in June, down from 51.1 in May and significantly below the 74.7 recorded in June 2007. Thomson Reuters is based in New York, and the University of Michigan is located in Ann Arbor.