Rising Fuel Costs Drive US Consumer Confidence to Lowest Level Since 2014

US consumer confidence has crashed to its lowest point since 2014. This bad news arrived just over a month before the congressional midterm elections. The drop is sharp, and it hits right when voters are weighing their choices for Washington, DC.

Higher costs for goods and fuel drove this decline. That is what people told researchers at The Conference Board on Tuesday. Dana M Peterson, chief economist there, said the index deteriorated notably in September after two prior months of softening. It got worse fast.

The average price for a gallon of petrol jumped 37 cents in just one month. AAA says the cost stood at $4.45 on Tuesday, compared to $4.08 back then. War and conflict did ease slightly, but oil prices soared anyway. Peterson noted that gas costs surged while comments about global tensions remained elevated despite some relief.

Fed rates went up earlier this month for the first time in three years. Credit cards and car loans got more expensive because of it. The central bank will decide again on October 27-28. This pressure hits Republicans too, since consumer sentiment is tumbling across political lines. Everyone feels the sting of inflation right now.

Inflation data comes out a day after this report. The PCE index was up 3.7 percent in June from a year earlier. That number keeps the Fed watching closely. Markets are only slightly lower as trading closes. The Nasdaq fell 0.08 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent.

Most Americans think Democrats would handle the economy better than Republicans. A recent Marist poll shows 42 percent favoring Democrats compared to 34 percent for Republicans. This survey came just before the final major reading before midterms. The balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance now.