Consumer confidence slips in July

07.26.09
By Timothy Jones

Although there have been some good indications that the economy is getting on the right track with Americans increasingly applying for home loans and home sales on the rise, a new survey points out that there may still be a way to go before the economy rebounds.

According to the Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment dropped from 70.8 in June to 66 in July, signaling that unemployment and other economic problems may still be affecting consumer confidence.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's rating service, said that the increasing unemployment rate - which is currently at 9.5 percent - is playing a big factor in American's opinion of the economy.

"People are a little more worried about the economy, especially over the labor market and what's happening in Washington," he said. "It's still consistent with the picture that the economy is bottoming out, but you are not going to get a big bounce in consumer spending."

Although their confidence may be down, Americans seem to be interested in purchasing homes as figures released this week from the National Association of Realtors find that existing home sales rose for the third straight month in June.

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American consumers lost confidence in July