Consumers confidence slides for third straight month in July

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence slid again in July as concerns about higher prices for food and gas continue to weigh on Americans. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 95.7 in July from 98.4 in June, largely due to consumers’ anxiety over four-decade high inflation. The business research group’s present situation index — which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — fell from 147.2 to 141.3. U.S. inflation surged to a new four-decade high in June, squeezing household budgets and pressuring the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively — trends that raise the risk of a recession.