Worries about job growth and the economy has caused the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index to slide to a nine-month low in August.

The index, which had increased moderately in July, posted a sharp decline in August. The index now stands at 99.6, down from 107.0 in July. The Present Situation Index decreased to 123.4 from 134.2 and the Expectations Index declined to 83.8 from 88.9 last month.

“Consumer confidence lost significant ground in August and is now at its lowest level this year,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Less favuorable business conditions coupled with a less favourable job scenario have resulted in the largest one month decline in confidence since hurricane Katrina last year. Looking ahead, the glass remains half empty as consumers are growing increasingly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook.”

Consumers’ overall assessment of current conditions was significantly less favourable in August. Those claiming conditions are “good” decreased to 26.1% from 27.3%. Those claiming conditions are “bad” increased to 16.7% from 15.0%. Labour market conditions were also less favourable. Consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 24.4% from 28.6%, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased to 21.1% from 19.6% in July.

Consumers’ outlook for the next six months turned more negative in August as well. Those anticipating business conditions to worsen increased to 12.9% from 10.9%. Those expecting business conditions to improve edged down to 15.9% from 16.1%.

The outlook for the U.S. labour market was also less favorable. Those expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months decreased to 14.0% from 14.3% in July. Those expecting fewer jobs increased to 18.3% from 16.5%. The proportion of consumers anticipating their incomes to increase in the months ahead declined to 17.7% from 18.3%.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, a custom research company. The cutoff date for August’s preliminary results was Aug. 22.