Consumer confidence flat, near record low: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American consumers' confidence was unchanged in the latest week, near its record low as U.S. gasoline prices rose above $4 per gallon for the first time ever and unemployment registered the biggest monthly rise in more than two decades, a report showed on Tuesday.

The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index held at -45 in the week to June 8, not far from its record low if -51 reached two weeks earlier. The index ranges from -100 to +100 and its 2008 average is -36.

"Consumers have plenty of reasons to worry," the news outlet said in a statement. "(Average national) gasoline prices jumped 6 cents to a record $4.04 a gallon, stocks plunged Friday as (light crude futures) skyrocketed by more than $10 a barrel and the biggest monthly surge in unemployment in 22 years underscored the economy's weakness."

The index's three components were mixed in the latest week, as positive views of the national economy were unchanged at 12 percent, views on personal finances gained 1 percentage point to 48 percent and those on the buying climate shed 1 percentage point to 22 percent.

Earlier on Tuesday, Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence said their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index hit a record low 37.4 in June from 40.3 in May.

Confidence measures are generally viewed as a barometer of consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy. However, economists note that consumers do not always act in accordance with their statements to surveys.

The ABC News consumer confidence survey was based on a sample of about 1,000 interviews conducted in the four weeks to June 8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Dan Grebler)