US Consumer Confidence Hits a Seven-Month Low

In Mid-Q3, US consumers felt better about current conditions, but confidence overall softened as views of income, business, and jobs over coming months worsened.
The present-conditions index ↑~7 points to 121, while the expectations gauge ↓~6 points to 68, slipping below a level long tied to recession risk.
In Early-Q3, employers cut 23K jobs, and unemployment edged to ~4% largely because workers left the labor force, not because hiring improved.
Even with softer confidence, homebuying expectations eased only slightly in Mid-Q3 and kept rising, while ~61% still expected interest rates to move higher.
With federal policymakers holding rates steady and markets pricing limited near-term relief, borrowing costs looked set to stay elevated through year-end for buyers.