Consumer confidence edges up on decline in gas prices: Conference Board

“The mood among consumers remains pretty bleak,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief U.S. Economist Samuel Tombs said. Relentless price pressures have undermined real incomes and strained household budgets for several months, influencing the outlook of voters with the approach of the Nov. 3 mid-term elections. Measures of the mood among consumers — including surveys by the University of Michigan and New York Fed — have traced a decline in sentiment since February, when air strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran led to a reduction in the supply of crude oil, pushing up fuel costs.