Consumers Turn Glum On Job Market Fears; Factory Data Also Soft; Consumers Soured In Sept.; Midwest manufacturers' weak growth a surprise; here come the pink slips.(A)

Byline: CHRISTINA WISE

Consumers turned glum in September, as the Consumer Confidence Index fell to its worst reading since prewar March levels.

The Conference Board's index sank to 76.8 from 81.7 in August, well below the 80.6 expected.

Meanwhile, a key regional manufacturing report showed surprisingly slow growth last month and more job losses.

Much of the drag in the confidence index came from its expectations subindex, which sank to 88.4 in September from 94.9. But consumers also aren't feeling too good about the present, sending that component down 2.5 points to 59.5, the worst since late 1993.

"It definitely gives a stark look at how consumers feel today and that they are not optimistic about the next few months," said Mat Johnson, chief economist with Quantit Economic Group. "The obvious inference from this is that people are feeling more dire about the job market."

Of those polled, more than one in three said jobs were hard to find, the worst in over nine years.