March 20 (Bloomberg) — Americans were most pessimistic on the outlook for the economy in March than at any time in four months, a sign the effects of harsh winter weather are still rippling through the United States.
The percentage of negative responses about the future exceeded positive views by 12 points this month, the most since November, data from the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed today. The weekly measure declined to minus 29 from minus 27.6 the prior period, the first drop in six weeks.
"The latest results may mark the impact of challenges, including higher home-heating prices during the long winter, a sharp increase in food prices tied to California's drought and the rising price of gasoline," Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates LLC in New York, which produces the data for Bloomberg, said in a statement.
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