U.S. Confidence Impacted by Job-Opening Concerns

Americans grew concerned in April that jobs have become more difficult to land, prompting an unexpected drop in confidence from a six-year high.

The Conference Board’s sentiment index decreased to 82.3 from 83.9 a month earlier, a reading that was stronger than initially estimated and the highest since January 2008, the New York-based private research group said today. Another report showed home prices in 20 cities rose at a slower pace.

Smaller gains in housing and stocks and higher prices at the gas pump help explain why households’ assessments of the economy aren’t improving. Nonetheless, consumers held out hope that the employment outlook will brighten enough later this year to generate the wages needed to spark spending.

Bloomberg

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