Consumer Confidence Suffers Surprise Fall
Tue July 29, 2003 02:22 PM ET

By Wayne Cole
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence took a surprise spill in July as worries over rising unemployment took a heavy toll, the Conference Board reported on Tuesday.

The result provided a muted counterpoint to cheerleading from government officials. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Tuesday took time off from a bus tour of the Midwest to tell television network CNBC the economy was "spring-loaded to go."

Not all Americans, it seems, are convinced. The private research group's monthly consumer confidence index slid to 76.6 in July from 83.5 in June.