US consumer confidence slumps in latest week - ABC

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - ABC News said on Tuesday that
its weekly U.S. consumer confidence gauge slipped further, as
Americans became increasingly cautious about the current buying
climate.

The Consumer Comfort Index fell to -50 in the week ended
Oct. 18 from -48 in the previous week, nearing its record low.

The index first hit an all-time low of -54 in the week to
Dec. 1, 2008, and again in the week to Jan. 25, 2009.

------POSITIVE VIEWS ON-------

NATIONAL PERSONAL BUYING
W/E CCI ECONOMY FINANCES CLIMATE
------------------------------------------------
10/18 -50 11 41 23
10/11 -48 11 42 25
10/4 -45 11 44 27
9/27 -46 10 45 26
9/20 -46 10 45 26
9/13 -49 9 44 24
9/6 -48 8 45 25
8/30 -45 8 48 27
8/23 -45 8 49 25
8/16 -46 7 48 26
8/9 -47 8 47 25
8/2 -49 9 44 24

The ABC News consumer confidence survey was based on a
sample of about 1,000 interviews conducted in the four weeks
ending Oct. 18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3
percentage points.
(U.S. Treasury desk; Tel: 646-223-6300)