Consumer Confidence Gauge Declines in February

Consumer confidence fell in February, the Conference Board said Tuesday, as Americans grew more pessimistic about business conditions, personal finances and labor-market prospects.

The group's index of consumer confidence declined to 92.2 this month from a revised 97.8 in January. Measures of consumers' outlook on current and future conditions both dropped.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected consumer confidence to fall to 97.0.

"Continued turmoil in the financial markets may be rattling consumers, but their assessment of current conditions suggests the economy will continue to expand at a moderate pace in the near-term," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board.

Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at jeffrey.sparshott@wsj.com