Consumer confidence dips during holiday season

Consumer confidence slipped in December amid a drop in future expectations.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell 0.3 points to 126.5 in December, according to a preliminary reading released Tuesday. The decline came after confidence rebounded in November following three months of declines.

The Conference Board said the Present Situation Index, which measures consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, rose 3.4 points to 170, mostly offsetting the drop in the Expectations Index, which fell 2.9 points to 97.4.

“Consumer confidence declined marginally in December, following a slight improvement in November," Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement. "While consumers' assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects.”

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The cutoff for the survey was Dec. 13 -- the day after the U.S. and China announced a partial trade deal.