Consumer Confidence Falls in March
WASHINGTON - Americans are less confident in the economy than they were last month as massive government spending cuts have stoked economic uncertainty.
The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said its reading of confidence fell in March after rebounding last month.
The index is closely watched by economists because it makes a monthly gauge of how Americans are feeling about their jobs, incomes and other bread-and-butter issues. That's important because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The March confidence index fell to 59.7 from a revised reading of 68 in February. That's also below the 68.7 reading that analysts polled by research firm FactSet expected.
Anxiety about $85 billion in across-the-board government spending cuts that took effect March 1 caused the decline, the group says.
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