Consumer Confidence Deteriorating, Discover Says

Riverwoods, IL, Oct. 7, 2011 -- Lack of consumer confidence was prevalent in September as the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor dropped to its lowest level since February 2009.

The Monitor, a 4-year-old daily poll tracking economic confidence and spending intentions of nearly 8,200 consumers throughout the month, recorded a 3.5 point drop to 77.0%.

This is 1.3 points higher than the record low reported in February 2009.

The same report also found that 66% of consumers rated the economy as poor, up 2 points from last month, and just 1-point lower than the record-high of 67% in February 2009, amid the height of the recession.

Consumer sentiment toward personal finances also grew negative in September, Discover said.

A record 57% of Americans said their personal finances were worsening, a jump of 4 percentage points who said the same in August and 1 percentage point higher than the Monitor’s prior high of 56% in November 2008.

Another record 28% of consumers rated their personal finances as “poor” – up from 25% in August and 2 percentage points higher than the Monitor’s prior high of 26% in December 2009.