U.S. Consumer Comfort Index Declines for a Fourth Straight Week

Americans’ sentiment fell for a fourth straight week as still-rising gasoline prices drove a measure of the buying climate down by the most in eight months, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed Thursday.

After reaching a 17-year high in mid-April, the weekly comfort index has stumbled 3.5 points as Americans’ pocketbooks get squeezed by the highest fuel prices since late 2014. Sentiment fell across most income groups and in three of four U.S. regions. Comfort was unchanged in the Midwest.