Consumer confidence takes a big slide

The confidence Americans have in the economy experienced the biggest plunge in April in modern times as the coronavirus ravaged Main Street and Wall Street. But they are also starting to think the worst might be over.

The consumer confidence index sank this month to 86.9 points from a revised 118.8 in March, according to the nonprofit Conference Board, publisher of the report, a bit worse than economists polled by MarketWatch expected.

Americans were very pessimistic about what’s happening in the country right now, but they were more hopeful that the economy would begin to recover in the near future.


What happened: An index that measures how Americans feel about the economy right now plummeted to 76.4 from 166.7. That was also a record decline.
Those who said jobs are “plentiful” slumped to 20% from 43.3%, but those who said jobs are “hard to get” rose to 33.6% from 13.8%.

Yet another index that measures future expectations — the next six months — actually improved to 93.8 from 86.8 in March.

Other surveys such as the weekly report by Morning Consult and the monthly consumer sentiment index also suggest consumers are showing some cautious optimism that the nation might have turned the corner in its battle against the coronavirus.

A few states such as Georgia have taken the first tentative steps toward reopening their economies and letting businesses cater to customers again.

“Consumers’ short-term expectations for the economy and labor market improved, likely prompted by the possibility that stay-at-home restrictions will loosen soon, along with a re-opening of the economy,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the board.

Big picture: The U.S. has fallen into what’s likely to be a deep recession, but how long it goes on is far from clear. The timing and intensity of a recovery will depend on how well the viral is contained and future outbreaks are limited.