NEW YORK (AP) -
Consumer confidence soured in May, as Americans fretted about the job outlook and the overall economy's future, a private research group said Tuesday.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 103.2, down from the revised 109.8 in April. Still, May's reading was better than the 100.9 expected by analysts.
The decline stalled a rebound seen since November in the aftermath of last year's Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, except for a sharp dip in February when short-lived pessimism over the job market hurt consumer sentiment.
"Consumer confidence, which reached a four-year high in April, lost ground in May," said Lynn Franco, director of the New York-based Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a statement. "Apprehension about the short-term outlook for the economy, the labor market and consumers' earning potential has driven the Expectations Index down to levels not seen since the aftermath of the hurricanes last summer."
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