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Consumer confidence in the United Sates unexpectedly fell in August for the second consecutive month, to its lowest in about six years, reflecting concern about the economy as continuing high coronavirus infections kept unemployment up and the outlook uncertain.

The Conference Board, a nonprofit business and research group in New York with about 1,000 public and private member companies in 60 countries, said last week that its consumer confidence index fell to 84.8 in August, the lowest reading since May 2014.

That compares with a reading of 85.7 in April during the height of the economic lockdown that was aimed at containing the coronavirus.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones said they expected the index to rise to 93 after having been 91.7 in July.

The confidence index is closely watched because consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the US economy. A strong economy is widely regarded as a key to US President Donald Trump's reelection prospects in November.

"Consumer spending has rebounded in recent months, but increasing concerns among consumers about the economic outlook and their financial well-being will likely cause spending to cool in the months ahead," said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators with the board.

Consumers' assessment of both the economy now and the short-term outlook fell. The percentage of consumers who believe business conditions are good fell to 16.4 percent, while those who believe conditions are bad rose to 43.6 percent.

The percentage of consumers who said they expected business conditions to improve in the next six months fell from 31.6 percent in July to 29.9 percent in August, the board said.

The employment outlook fell from 29.6 percent to 29.1 percent, the survey found.

Unemployment was at a record low before the economic shutdown ordered in March as part of the effort to contain the virus, which continues to pound the US economy.

First-time jobless claims totaled 1.006 million for the week ended Aug 22, down from 1.104 million the previous week, the US Labor Department reported last week.

Unemployment rate

Initial claims have totaled more than 1 million for 22 of the past 23 weeks.

The number of unemployed workers rose to 20.5 million in May from 6.2 million in February, sending the unemployment rate to 13 percent, having earlier been 3.8 percent.

Nearly half of US employers who furloughed or laid off staff because of COVID-19 are considering additional job cuts in the coming 12 months, according to a survey of human-resources employees by Randstad RiseSmart, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

MGM Resorts said it would start laying off 18,000 furloughed workers on Monday as the global travel slowdown hurts the gambling industry's recovery. The cuts represent about a quarter of the company's pre-pandemic workforce of 68,000 US employees. It was unclear how many of those job cuts would be in Las Vegas.

While some upscale and midmarket retailers have collapsed, discounters may have an opening.

In a research report, the New York investment bank Goldman Sachs said Burlington Stores, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, experienced a strong reopening in the second quarter because of "pent-up demand and the use of clearance markdowns to drive sales".