New York, Mar. 25--Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month in March, dragged down by worries about the economy and tensions in Iraq, a private research group said Tuesday.
The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 62.5 from a revised 64.8 in February, the New York-based Conference Board said. The decline was not as deep as expected and not nearly as drastic as the 14-point drop experienced in February.
Analysts had expected a reading of 62.0 in March.
The Conference Board's index is derived from responses received through March 18 - before the start of war in Iraq - to a survey mailed March 1 to 5,000 households in a consumer research panel.
The results released Tuesday are from a partial sample of at least 2,500 respondents and are subject to revision once the full sample - typically 3,500 households - is in.
''While a quick and successful outcome in the Middle East conflict would certainly ease some of the uncertainties facing consumers and therefore boost confidence, it is the economic fundamentals that will determine whether a rebound is sustainable,'' Lynn Franco, director of The Consumer Conference Research Center, said in a statement accompanying the report.
She added: ''The end of the Gulf War in 1991 produced a surge in confidence, but labor market conditions quickly diminished the spark.''
Consumers' appraisal of the business environment mirrored last month's readings.
Those rating business conditions as ''bad'' remained virtually unchanged at 29.8 percent. Just 13.8 percent viewed conditions as good. Consumers saying that jobs are hard to find rose 32.3 percent from 30.0 percent. Those claiming that jobs are plentiful remained flat at 11.6. percent.
Consumers' short-term expectations in March were more pessimistic than in the previous month.
Those anticipating that business conditions will worsen over the next six months edged up to 19.9 percent from 19.1 percent. Consumers anticipating an improvement fell to 13.3 percent from 14.9 percent.
The employment outlook fared no better. Consumers anticipating that more jobs will become available in the next six months declined to 11.1 percent from 12.4 percent. Those expecting fewer jobs, however, dropped to 26.1 percent from 28.5 percent.
Consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes declined slightly to 15.8 percent from 16.0 percent in February.
