Consumer Confidence Tumbles in March

U.S. consumer confidence tumbled in March as Americans turned more pessimistic about economic prospects in the short term, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 59.7 from a downwardly revised 68 in February. The figure fell short of economists' expectations of 68.

February was originally reported as 69.6.    The expectations index slid to 60.9 from 72.4, while the present situation index declined to 57.9 from 61.4.

Those expecting business conditions to get better over the next six months decreased to 14.4% from 18%, and those expecting conditions to get worse rose to 18.3% from 16.6%.

"The recent sequester has created uncertainty regarding the economic outlook and, as a result, consumers are less confident,'' Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement.

The $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts known as the sequester was triggered at the beginning of the month when politicians failed to come to an agreement on a new deal.

Consumers' labor market assessment was mixed. The ``jobs hard to get'' index edged down to 36.2% from 36.9% the month before, but the ``jobs plentiful'' index fell to 9.4% from 10.1%.

Consumers also felt worse about price increases with expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months rising to 5.9% from 5.6%.