With short-term inflation expectations and concerns about the job market risingHarrah's100playvideopokerU. S. consumer confidence fell to a six-month low in early May.

Data released on Friday showed that the initial consumer confidence index of the University of Michigan in May was 77 in April.Harrah's100playvideopoker.2 dropped to 67.4. It was lower than all economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected.

Consumer expectations for inflation in the coming year reached 3.5%, the highest in six months and higher than the 3.2% expected in April. Inflation is expected to be 3.1 per cent over the next five to 10 years, slightly higher than expected in April.

The general decline in confidence among different ages, incomes and education groups also reflects growing concerns about high interest rates. Although the labour market has boosted economic growth over the past year, the pessimistic assessment highlighted in the report adds to evidence of a slowdown.

"strong household incomes have been the main source of strong consumer spending over the past few years, so it is worrying that labour market expectations are weak, which could lead to a decline in consumers' willingness to spend if this continues," Joanne Hsu, who is in charge of the survey, said in a statement.

Indicators of durable goods purchases fell to an one-year low.

"to make matters worse, consumers expect the pain to continue because expectations for interest rates have deteriorated sharply this month," Hsu said. "only 1/4 of consumers expect interest rates to fall in the coming year, compared with 32 per cent in April."

The current indicator fell to 68.8 and the expected indicator fell to 66.5, both six-month lows.