The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) recently reported that, after a strong rebound in May, consumer confidence began trending downward again in June. Consumers remain concerned about the economy and labor market amid ongoing uncertainty, with import tariffs on building products remaining a significant concern, officials said. The decline erased almost half of May’s sharp gain, suggesting continued volatility in consumer sentiment, they added.
The Consumer Confidence Index, reported by the Conference Board, measures how optimistic or pessimistic consumers feel about their financial situations. The index fell from 98.4 in May to 93 in June — the second lowest level since February 2021.
Consumers’ assessment of current business conditions turned negative, with the number of respondents rating business conditions as “good” decreasing by 2.4 percentage points to 19%, while those claiming business conditions as “bad” rose by 1.6 percentage points to 15.3%.
Meanwhile, consumers’ assessments of the labor market also cooled. The share of respondents reporting that jobs were “plentiful” fell by 1.9 percentage points at 29.2%, while, those who saw jobs as “hard to get” decreased by only 0.3 percentage points to 18.1%.
The Conference Board also reported on consumers’ plans to buy homes within the next six months. The share of those planning to buy fell slightly to 5.9% in June. Of those, respondents planning to buy a newly constructed home decreased to 0.2%, and those planning to buy an existing home dropped to 3.2%. The remaining 2% were planning to buy a home, but were undecided between new or existing homes.