Consumer Confidence Hits All-Time Low in December

New York, NY, Dec. 30, 2008--Consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in December amid a dismal job market and uncertain outlook for the new year, according to the Conference Board.

The business research group said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 38 in December from the downwardly revised 44.7 in November.

Economists were expecting the index to increase to 45.5, according to a Briefing.com consensus survey of economists.

"The further erosion of the Consumer Confidence Index reflects the rapid and steep deterioration of economic conditions that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a statement.

Wachovia senior economist Mark Vitner said that assessment is "right on the money."

"It looks like the uptick in November was a knee-jerk response to the presidential election being over," he said. The "false reading in November" bumped their expectations too high, leading to disappointment this month, Vitner added.

Perhaps most unsettling for Americans is the deteriorating job market. Layoffs and income cuts were widespread this year. The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose to a 26-year high for the week ended Dec. 20.

Nearly 2 million jobs were lost in 2008, and the slumped stock market means some nest eggs have shrunk considerably.

"The overall economic outlook remains quite dismal for the first half of 2009, and only a modest recovery is expected in the second half," Franco said in the statement.