Consumer Confidence Down 41% in April

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index nose-dived to 62.3 (1985 = 100) in April, down 41.4% from April, 2007, and down 5.5% from March levels. The Present Situation Index decreased to 80.7, while the Expectations Index was virtually unchanged at 50.1.
Consumers' short-term outlook remained quite grim in April. Consumers expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months increased to 27.0%, while those anticipating business conditions to improve increased to 10.1%. Those expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead increased to 32.8%, while those anticipating more jobs increased to 9.0%. Consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined to 15.1%.