Consumer Confidence Dips

Consumer confidence took a dive in June as Americans kept feeling the sting of rising fuel prices, higher interest rates and a struggling stock market.

A key measure of consumer confidence tumbled nearly six points in June, to 138.8, the fourth drop in five months, according to the Conference Board, an independent research group. The data in the Consumer Confidence Index suggests that consumers, the leading force driving the record U.S. economic expansion, may be curbing their spending habits as they see some portions of the economy start to slow.

The data are based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households and is measured relative a reading of 100 in 1985. ...