Dow falls, S&P 500 and Nasdaq rise higher as Wall Street assesses Fed’s 2025 interest rate path

Consumer confidence fell short of expectations in December, largely due to how Americans view the economic outlook for the coming year.

The expectations index, which includes the near-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, fell 12.6 points to 81.1 in December, the largest month-on-month decline. since November 2020.

Overall, the consumer confidence index for December was 104.7, below the 113.2 expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Consumers’ views of current labor market conditions continued to improve, consistent with the latest jobs and unemployment data, but their assessment of business conditions weakened,” Conference Board chief economist Dana Peterson said in the release. “Compared to last month, consumers in December were significantly less optimistic about future business conditions and incomes. Also, pessimism about future employment prospects returned after cautious optimism prevailed in October and November.”

In December, 21.3% of respondents expected fewer jobs to be available in the next six months, up from 17.9% the month before. Meanwhile, expectations for income fell and worse business conditions for the next six months also rose.

Markets, which have recently been in a slump amid growing concerns about the uncertainty surrounding policies from the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve in 2025, moved lower after the release.

All three major indexes quickly hit their session lows before starting to pare losses.