Press release: “The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which has been declining since August, fell further in October. The Index now stands at 95.6 (1985=100), down from 99.5 in September. The Present Situation Index decreased to 118.8 from 121.2 in September. The Expectations Index declined to 80.1 from 85.0. The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households…Consumers’ short-term expectations eroded further in October. Consumers expecting business conditions to worsen in the next six months rose to 13.8 percent from 11.9 percent. Those anticipating business conditions to improve declined to 13.7 percent from 15.7 percent.”