The tug-of-war between rising unemployment and rising stock prices was won by the former this month as Consumer Confidence fell for the second month, coming in below analysts’ expectations.
The Conference Board measure of confidence fell to 46.6 in July, down from 49.3 in June. Leading the drop was a fall in the expectations component from 65.5 to 62.0, while the present situation component continues to report deep pessimism amongst consumers with a 23.4 reading, down from 25.0 last month....