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U.S. Economy: Consumer Confidence, House Prices Slide Shobhana Chandra and Timothy R. Homan June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among Americans dropped to the lowest level in 16 years and house prices fell the most on record, raising the risk that consumers will cut back on purchases after spending their tax rebates. The Conference Board's confidence index fell to 50.4 in June, lower than forecast, from 58.1 in May. Home prices in 20 cities dropped 15.3 percent in April from a year earlier, according to S&P/Case-Shiller, the most since the group began collecting data. Consumers, whose spending accounts for more than two thirds of gross domestic product, are being hurt by the housing slump, rising unemployment and higher food and fuel bills.
(Article continues below) ``We've seen this dive in confidence in the last two months at the same time these stimulus checks'' have been mailed, Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``It tells me if we see this pop in spending, it's not going to last.'' The confidence measure reached the lowest level since February 1992, when the economy was in the midst of the so- called ``jobless recovery'' following the 1990-1991 contraction. Concern over jobs contributed to the erosion in confidence. The share of consumers who said jobs are plentiful fell to 14.1 percent from 16.1 percent last month. Those saying jobs are hard to get increased to 30.5 percent from 28.3 percent. Buying plans over the next six months for automobiles, houses, appliances and vacations all declined.
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