Consumer confidence in the US experienced a slight dip in August 2025, with The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® falling by 1.3 points to 97.4, down from a revised 98.7 in July. Both the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index weakened, with the latter dropping to 74.8 and remaining below the 80-point threshold that typically signals an impending recession. This decline reflects growing anxieties among consumers regarding current and future job market conditions and their income prospects.
Specifically, consumers' appraisal of current job availability decreased for the eighth consecutive month, and pessimism about future job availability inched up. The share of consumers expecting their incomes to decrease rose to 12.6% from 11.8% in July. Despite this, stronger views of current business conditions partially mitigated the retreat in the Present Situation Index, and expectations for future business conditions improved slightly. Concerns about tariffs and high prices, particularly for food and groceries, continued to rise, with consumers' average 12-month inflation expectations picking up to 6.2% in August, an increase from 5.7% in July.
Consumers' outlook on financial markets also showed some concern; the percentage expecting stock prices to increase over the next 12 months declined slightly to 47.4% from 48.9% in July, while those expecting a decrease rose to 30.3% from 28.1%. The proportion of consumers anticipating interest rate hikes increased to 54.0% from 53.1% in July. These sentiments suggest a cautious consumer base, despite some underlying optimism about broader business conditions.
