Summer swoon: Consumer confidence drops for 2nd straight month

Consumer confidence may be taking the summer off, declining unexpectedly in July -- the indicator's second straight monthly decline -- primarily on citizens' concerns about the U.S. job market.

Consumer confidence declined to 46.6 in July from 49.3 in June, the Conference Board announced Tuesday. A Bloomberg News survey of economists had expected the index to total 50.0 in July. The index hit a record low of 25.3 in February.