U.S. consumer confidence sank to a record low in June as a surge in gasoline prices to more than $4 a gallon and a jump in the unemployment rate helped torpedo a modest rebound in Americans’ outlook seen the previous month, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Investor’s Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence said their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index fell to 37.4 in June from 40.3 in May. A reading below 50 indicates pessimism among survey respondents.
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It was just the second reading ever below 40 in the 89 months since the survey’s inception.
June’s reading puts the index 28 percent below its lifetime average of 52.1, IBD/TIPP said in a statement.
