Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the United States economy after a weak jobs report showed cracks in the labour market.

The Conference Board said on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 97.4 this month from an upwardly revised 98.7 in July.

“Notably, consumers’ appraisal of current job availability declined for the eighth consecutive month,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist of global indicators at the Conference Board.

“Meanwhile, pessimism about future job availability inched up, and optimism about future income faded slightly.”

Consumers are worried about their income. The measure that showed short-term expectations of business conditions fell by 1.2 points to 74.8. The marker that usually signals a looming recession is 80.

Labour market fuels

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