U.S. consumer confidence plunges to its lowest level since 2014

Americans became sharply more pessimistic about the economy in September, with consumer confidence dropping 6.7 points to 81.9. That was below the 89 forecast and the downwardly revised 88.6 reading for August, putting confidence at its lowest level since early 2014.

The decline reflects growing concern about prices, borrowing costs, hiring and future business conditions. Expectations fell to 63.6 from 69.5, while the gap between jobs viewed as plentiful and hard to get narrowed to its smallest level in more than five years.