The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in May, declined even further in June and now stands at 50.4 (1985=100), down from a revised 58.1 in May, the Conference Board reported.

That’s the fifth-lowest ever, as the Expectations Index declined from 47.3 in May to 41.0 - a record low. The Present Situation Index also decreased, to 64.5 from 74.2.

“Perhaps the silver lining to this otherwise dismal report is that Consumer Confidence may be nearing a bottom,” said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

Other findings issued by the Board:

• Consumers’ assessment of present conditions grew dimmer in June: Those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased to 32.5% from 29.7%, while those claiming business conditions are “good” declined to 11.5% from 13.0% last month.
• Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was also more pessimistic: Those saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 30.5% from 28.3% in May; those claiming jobs are “plentiful” declined to 14.1% from 16.1%.
• Consumers’ short-term expectations deteriorated further in June:
  • Those expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months rose to 33.9% from 32.9%.
  • Those anticipating business conditions to improve decreased to 8.8% from 10.6% in May.
• The outlook for the labor market was also more pessimistic:
  • The percentage of consumers expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead increased to 35.5% from 32.3%, while those anticipating more jobs declined to 8.0% from 9.0%.
  • The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined to 12.3% from 14.1%.

About the data: The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 US households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. The cutoff date for June’s preliminary results was June 18.