Consumer confidence slides as Americans grow wary of high costs and
sluggish job gains
[November 26, 2025] By
CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers were much less confident in the economy
in November in the aftermath of the government shutdown, weak hiring and
stubborn inflation.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index
dropped to 88.7 in November from an upwardly revised October reading of
95.5, the lowest reading since April, when President Donald Trump
announced sweeping tariffs that caused the stock market to plunge.
The figures suggest that Americans are increasingly wary of high costs
and sluggish job gains, with perceptions of the labor market worsening,
the survey found. Declining confidence could pose political problems for
Trump and Republicans in Congress, as the dimmer views of the economy
were seen among all political affiliations and were particularly sharp
among independents, the Conference Board said.
Earlier Tuesday, a government report showed that retail sales slowed in
September after healthy readings over the summer. While economists
forecast healthy growth for the July-September quarter, many expect a
much weaker showing in the final three months of the year, largely
because of the shutdown.
Less-confident consumers may spend less, though the connection isn't
always clear. In recent years, consumer spending has held up even when
the available data suggests they've grown more anxious.
“We do not think that consumer spending is about to hit a cliff, as
spending has decoupled from confidence, but risks to the downside are
increasing,” Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist at Jefferies, an
investment bank, said.
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 The proportion of consumers that
said jobs are “plentiful” dropped to 27.6% in November, down from
28.6% in the previous month. It is down sharply from 37% in
December.
At the same time, 17.9% said jobs are “hard to get," slightly below
the 18.3% who said so in October. That figure is up from 15.2% in
September. The figures on job availability are seen by economists as
reliable predictors of hiring and the unemployment rate.
Americans continue to worry about elevated costs, fueling the
“affordability” concerns that were a key issue in elections earlier
this month.
“Consumers’ write-in responses pertaining to factors affecting the
economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation,
tariffs and trade, and politics, with increased mentions of the
federal government shutdown," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at
the Conference Board. The shutdown ended Nov. 12.
The economy likely grew at a solid annual rate of about 3% in the
July-September quarter, economists estimate. But growth is likely to
slow in the final three months of the year, largely because of the
shutdown, which cut off pay for federal workers, disrupted
contracts, and interrupted air travel.
The Conference Board survey ran through Nov. 18, about five days
after the shutdown ended.
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