Consumer Sentiment Index is Down 6% for November

The Consumer Sentiment Index is falling rather quickly. From the WSJ:

Consumer sentiment sank in November to a two-year low as soaring fuel prices, a weak housing market and inflationary fears weighed heavily on consumers.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment reading dropped to 76.1 in November from 80.9 in October. Except for a dip in sentiment after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the survey is at its lowest point since 1992. Consumers' view of current conditions and expectations for the future both slumped, prompting the pollsters to note that "the risk that a recession develops is uncomfortably large."

Consumers estimate inflation will be 3.4% over the next year, up from 3.1% a month earlier. The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators fell 0.5% in October, another signal of looming weakness.