US Consumer Confidence Slumps to Lowest Level Since 2014
US consumer confidence has fallen to its weakest point in more than ten years, dropping below pandemic-era lows and intensifying worries about the strength of the world’s largest economy.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slid to 84.5 in January, far under market forecasts and the lowest reading since May 2014.
“Confidence collapsed in January, as consumer concerns about both the present situation and expectations for the future deepened,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.
The downbeat mood comes despite robust GDP growth and solid consumer spending, raising fears that the benefits of recent economic gains are not being shared evenly across households.
The data is released as Donald Trump travels to Iowa to begin a weekly tour promoting his economic record. The US president has struggled to persuade voters that they are better off under his leadership than they were under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“The economy is good, it’s all good. Prices are coming way down, and we have a lot of very positive news,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Official figures published last week showed the US economy expanded at an annualised rate of 4.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2025. The Atlanta Federal Reserve has forecast growth could rise to as much as 5.4 per cent in the final quarter of the year.
At the same time, real consumer spending increased by 3.5 per cent in the third quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, suggesting Americans are still spending freely.
Economists said the sharp contrast between strong economic indicators and weak sentiment points to a widening divide between wealthier and poorer households.
“This divergence likely reflects the narrative that the top 20 per cent of households by income are driving the growth story while the bottom 60 per cent by income are treading water,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING.
Thomas Simons, chief economist at Jefferies, said that despite “incredibly strong” growth and productivity figures in the second half of 2025, “this confidence measure and others are behaving as if the economy is in a recession”.
“More likely than not, this is the consequence of the K-shaped economy, where upper-income, wealthier households are supporting strong consumer spending levels, and lower-income households are increasingly concerned about the labour market and the re-emergence of inflation,” he added.
While retailers and consumer goods companies say many customers remain resilient, cracks are beginning to appear. Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide laundry detergent and Pantene shampoo, reported slowing US sales last week.
“Consumers are, in periods of less certainty, sometimes skimping a little bit,” said chief financial officer Andre Schulten as the company released its results.
The Conference Board’s headline index dropped 9.7 points from a revised 94.2 in December, marking its steepest decline in more than four years.
The “present situation” sub-index fell to 113.7 in January from 123.6 the month before, its lowest level since February 2021. Meanwhile, the “expectations” sub-index slid from 74.6 to 65.1, the weakest reading since April 2025, when Trump announced his “liberation day” tariff plan.
