U.S. consumer confidence falls in November to nine-month low

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, clipped by rising prices and lingering concerns about the coronavirus.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 109.5, down from 111.6 in October. It was the lowest reading since the index stood at 95.2 in February and would not include the ramifications of omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus that has begun to spread.

The Conference Board said that concerns about rising prices and to a lesser degree lingering worries about the delta variant were the primary drivers of the decline.

There was an even larger drop this week in the University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer sentiment, which fell in November to a decade-low for many of the same reasons.