Fed's Bullard: U.S. spending slump to sap 2009 growth

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) - St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday that financial market turmoil has collapsed U.S. consumer confidence and this would weigh on growth well into next year.

He said U.S. households spent the first half of the year depressed about rising energy prices, but just as the cost of crude oil peaked and turned lower, the stock market fell out of bed.

"What you got out of that was a very pessimistic consumer and (this) is going to be a drag on the economy for the next few quarters," he told a regional economic summit after delivering a speech.

Bullard is not a voting member of the Fed's interest rate-setting committee this year.

(Reporting by Alister Bull, editing by Gary Crosse)