Americans’ views about the economy fell in November, largely due to pessimism over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Consumer confidence declined to 96.1, according to the monthly report from the Conference Board. The October number was 101.4.
“The decline reflected a big drop in consumer expectations for income, business and labor market conditions,” reported the Associated Press.
“Heading into 2021, consumers do not foresee the economy nor the labor market gaining strength,” said Lynn Franco, the Conference Board’s senior director of Economic Indicators. “In addition, the resurgence of Covid-19 is further increasing uncertainty and exacerbating concerns about the outlook.”
The Wall Street Journal said economists it surveyed had expected a reading of 98.0. The index was at 132.6 in February, before the pandemic hit.
It’s notable that the Conference Board survey was conducted Nov. 1-13, before word of positive results in testing of three Covid-19 vaccines reached the public.
But that good news aside, Americans are clearly worried about their own bank accounts — particularly those out of work and in need of a new round of federal support.
“The economy is losing speed as more than $3 trillion in government coronavirus relief has lapsed,” reports the Reuters news agency. “The fiscal stimulus helped millions of unemployed Americans cover daily expenses and small-to-medium sized companies keep workers on payrolls,” but a new rescue package is unlikely before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.
And for now, the pandemic is getting worse.
“The U.S. seven-day moving average of new Covid-19 cases climbed to 172,000 on Monday,” the Journal reports. That’s more than 2 ½ times the infection rate at the peak of the summer surge.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker shows that well over 9 million (9,177,840) Americans have contracted the coronavirus since March, while nearly 260,000 (258,364) have died.
