Economy: March 2, 2001
Consumer confidence, buffeted by stock market gyrations and a drumbeat of news about layoffs and closings, continues to fall, down to 106.8 in February, its lowest level since 1996, according to the New York-based nonprofit Conference Board; consumers’ expectations for the near-term future are even more gloomy, down to 68.7 in the Conference Board’s Expectations Index, a drop of 40 percent just since last September.
