Job Losses Cause Drop in Consumer Confidence -- The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which declined last month, dipped again in August. The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO World Group, a member of The Interpublic Group of Companies. "The deteriorating U.S. job market dampened consumer spirits this month," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. "This suggests rising unemployment ahead. The nation’s employment and unemployment numbers now bear watching, since continued weakness in the job market could translate into slower consumer spending. "SLUGGISH JOB MARKET CREATING CONCERN--Consumers are now less optimistic about ongoing economic conditions than they were in July. More families say current business conditions are "bad" - 14.9 percent now, compared with 14.6 percent a month ago. Those rating conditions as "good" declined slightly, from 28.5 percent to 28.2 percent. But the job market has begun to unsettle consumers. Those claiming jobs were "hard to get" rose from 14.1 percent to 15.9 percent. Those reporting jobs were "plentiful" fell from 35.6 percent to 33.4 percent. Consumers were a little more optimistic about business conditions for the next six months. Those expecting an improvement in business conditions increased from 17.2 percent to 18.9 percent. The percent of consumers expecting economic conditions to weaken declined from 11.2 percent to 10.7 percent. The employment outlook for the next six months was mixed. Currently, 16.0 percent of consumers expect more jobs to become available, up from 15.0 percent last month. But those expecting fewer jobs through the end of this year advanced from 16.4 percent to 17.8 percent. Slightly more American families are expecting their incomes to rise: 22.4 percent are anticipating larger paychecks six months from now, up from 22.1 percent last month. For further information, visit the Consumer Research Center Website: www.consumerresearchcenter.org

Raw Data Available At: www.tcb-indicators.org

OK-if your eyes haven’t glazed over and you haven’t nodded off, consider these steps as potential tools for assessing your financial status now and your plans for the future:

A portfolio-do you have stocks/bonds/or other investments? Have you recently reviewed the advisability of your current selections? If you don’t have any type savings plan, what might be the most appropriate for you at this time? Some fund managers will supply potential clients with a questionnaire that takes into consideration your age, gender, earning capacity, etc. which can offer insights and guidelines based on your present circumstances.

Debts/Credit Cards-do you have them? What is/might their impact be on your overall fiscal picture?

What about a budget-are you using that approach now, and if not, is it worth exploring?

Sample budget issues:

How many in your household
Income
Expenditures (housing, garbage pickup, water, parking fees, gas, heating, and lights. Insurance (personal, household, vehicle), telephone, cable, automobile, including monthly payment with interest, routine maintenance and oil changes, car washes, and gas, entertainment expenses, clothing, food, household items - ie. Toilet paper, shampoo, deodorant, cleaner, newspaper, etc. Personal Care: haircuts, manicure, etc. Birthdays/Gifts. Savings.

If you are reading this, you have access to almost limitless resources pertaining to all money matters. Using www.google.com we entered keywords “money saving tips” and instantly had 498,000 listings. Using the keywords “frugal living” supplied more than 93,000 listings. Just one word of warning-“if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Some economists are already predicting a positive turnaround soon. Let’s hope they’re right. Think of those prognostications as immaterial…this is a good exercise regardless of what the future holds. You can be a confident consumer if have done your homework!