August consumer confidence dips in US with jobs, tariffs and high prices driving most unease

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 1:00 PM EDT, August 26, 2025


WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ view of the U.S. economy declined modestly in August as anxiety over a weakening job market grew for the eighth straight month. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index ticked down by 1.3 points to 97.4 in August, down from July’s 98.7, but in the same narrow range of the past three months.

The small decline in confidence was in line with the forecasts of most of the economists who were surveyed. A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell by 1.2 points to 74.8, remaining significantly below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead.

Consumers’ assessments of their current economic situation also fell modestly, to 131.2 in August from 132.8 in July.

While the unemployment and layoffs remain historically low, there has been noticeable deterioration in the labor market this year and mounting evidence that people are having difficulty finding jobs.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/consumer-confidence-conference-board-economy-3e6d436656be001249542cf4e5425c0a

[CrispyQ]

1. I predict a dour Christmas. - nt

[Hugin]

5. Only two dolls... n/t

[slightlv]

6. We're just going to let it pass us by this year.

We'll have auto insurance on 2 cars, and the 2nd half of the property tax on the house due that month. On SS alone, it's going to be doing all I can do to keep us in enough food for the month, let alone do a "christmas" for anyone. Thank goodness, we really don't have any "little" kids in the family any longer. This one's going to be a hard Xmas, anyway... the first one without Mom here.

[Aussie105]

8. That's the thing, isn't it?

There is enough going on in most peoples' lives to make uncertainty about employment, income etc a major pain is the posterior.

[Skittles]

2. and prices just continuously go up

no lull, no plateau.......it did NOT used to be this way

[chicoescuela]

3. Clearly Sleepy Joe's fault for crying out loud

[Aussie105]

4. Australia post has just suspended shipment of certain packages to the US.

I'm guessing questions about tariffs, like how much, who pays and where the tariffs collected go to has resulted in a wait-and-see approach.

There is also a trap for the unwary.

Some companies that purport to be American are actually just order portals with drop shipping from overseas.

Example:

Order optical goods like glasses from an American company, and the order will get passed onto an overseas manufacturer, thus attracting an unexpected tariff burden.

I bought glasses from goggles4u, located at 12611 Hiddencreek Way Ste F, Cerritos, CA 90703 but the actual delivered product is from Bangladesh. (Quality is good, prices are great.)
No tariff for an Australian buyer like me, fortunately.

A quick google tells me this is a common business model, Zenni spectacles for instance are made in China.

Begs the question though, how many 'American' products are going to get hit with a tariff because they are actually made overseas?

[slightlv]

7. And evidently trump killed the de Minimis (?) loophole

that let a large group of goods into the market without tariffs because they were price so low. I'm not sure about all of it, I just remember reading about it several times over the last couple of weeks. Has a lot of people up in arms, and shipments cancelled or sitting on docks not going anywhere.

[Aussie105]

10. De minimis was always . . .

about the return for the effort needed to apply it.
Not cost effective.

[Aussie105]

9. Tariffs are a regressive tax.

Substitutes confusion for certainty, make planning for the future more difficult, and the flow on effect we don't know about yet are a worry.

When consumer confidence goes down, spending tends to stop. Both on an individual and business basis.

Trump is sucking the life blood out of the economy, both in the US and elsewhere.
One bad decision after another, and no one in power daring to complain or suggest better.