Consumer confidence falls more than expected in July

Consumer confidence falls more than expected in July

The consumer confidence index fell slightly in July to 80.3 from an upwardly revised 82.1 in June, the Conference Board said Tuesday. The decline in the index was sharper than the 81.1 forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch. Consumers were somewhat less optimistic about the health of the economy over the next six months, which accounted for the drop. The expectations index slid to 84.7 from 91.1 in June. The present situation index, however, rose to 73.6 from 68.7 to mark the highest level since early 2008.