US consumer confidence drops sharply as outlook for future dims

The Conference Board says its index of consumer confidence dropped this month on worries about the future.

The index fell to 90.9 in July from a revised 99.8 in June. Consumers' assessment of current conditions fell slightly to 107.4 from 110.3, but their outlook for the future dropped sharply to 79.9 this month from 92.8 in June.

Lynn Franco, a conference board economist, says consumers may have been rattled by the debt standoff in Greece and a stock market plunge in China. "Overall," she said, "the index remains at levels associated with an expanding economy and a relatively confident consumer."