Consumer confidence slips, weighed by economic growth worries

Consumer confidence slips, weighed by economic growth worries
Rebecca Howard
By Rebecca Howard March 19 (BusinessDesk) - Consumer confidence reversed last quarter's rise as the economy shows signs of slowing, the latest Westpac McDermott Miller survey shows. The consumer confidence index fell 5.3 points to 103.8, below the long-run average of 111.2. It had risen 5.6 points to 109.1 in the December quarter.  In today's survey, the present conditions index was down 3.9 points at 107.6 while the expected conditions index fell 6.2 points to 101.3. A reading above 100 indicates optimists outnumber pessimists. "Th...