The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index declined slightly in September after a marginal improvement in August. The index edged down to a reading of 119.8 (1985=100) from 120.4 in August.

“Consumer confidence decreased slightly in September after a marginal improvement in August,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “Confidence in Texas and Florida, however, decreased considerably, as these two states were the most severely impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Despite the slight downtick in confidence, consumers’ assessment of current conditions remains quite favorable and their expectations for the short-term suggest the economy will continue expanding at its current pace.”

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was more favorable than in August. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead rose to 19.5% in September from 16.8% in August, while those anticipating fewer jobs edged up to 13.5% from 13.2%. The number of consumers stating that jobs were “plentiful” fell to 32.6% in September from 34.4% in August; however, those claiming jobs are “hard to get” also decreased marginally to 18.1% from 18.4%.

Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an improvement increased moderately to 20.5% from 19.9% in August, while the proportion expecting a decline was virtually unchanged at 8.3%.