washington<u+2014>u.s. consumer confidence matched its lowest level in two years in october as concerns about the economy grew ahead of the coming presidential election . the university of michigan<u+2019>s consumer-sentiment index dropped to 87.2 from 91.2 a month earlier. that matched the september 2015 reading as the weakest since october 2014. economists surveyed by the wall street journal had expected consumer sentiment to register at 88.5. <u+201c>the october decline was due to less favorable prospects for the national economy, with half of all consumers anticipating an economic downturn sometime in the next five years for the first time since october 2014,<u+201d> said richard curtin, the survey<u+2019>s chief economist. uncertainty generated by the presidential election may be weighing on households, mr. curtin said. but if job and wage growth continues alongside low inflation and interest rates, the consumer outlook may well improve again. the survey<u+2019>s gauge of current economic conditions fell to 103.2 in october from 104.2 in september and the index of consumer expectations declined to 76.8 from 82.7, the lowest level since september 2014. sentiment has been trending lower for the past five months. the figures reveal <u+201c>a sharp deterioration in consumers<u+2019> attitudes ahead of the election,<u+201d> economists at contingent macro advisors said. republican donald trump is facing off against democrat hillary clinton in the u.s. presidential race. write to jeffrey sparshott at jeffrey.sparshott@wsj.com
u.s. consumer confidence slides in october - wsj
jeffrey sparshott