US consumers remain confident, but their feelings about the near future are a bit more cloudy

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

U.S. consumer confidence held steady this month even as Americans are still concerned about high prices and feeling less optimistic about the short-term future. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index ticked down to 104.7 in March from a revised 104.8 in February. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The index measuring Americans short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell further, while consumers’ view of current conditions improved. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity.