Consumer Confidence Plunges: Consumer confidence took its...

Consumer Confidence Plunges: Consumer confidence took its biggest plunge in 44 years between July and October as fears mounted about the shaky state of the economy, according to a University of Michigan study. Richard Curtin, director of the University of Michigan’s consumer survey group, said the university’s index of consumer sentiment plummeted 24.3 points to 63.9% between July and October. The index is a percentage measured against the consumer sentiment level of 100 established in February, 1966. “This is the largest three-month decline in the history of these surveys . . . easily outdistancing the prior record of 15 index points following the 1973 oil embargo,” Curtin said.