California Sentiment Index Falls

Consumer confidence in California declined in the fourth quarter amid high gasoline prices and a tepid job market, according to a report released Friday.

Chapman University in Orange said its consumer sentiment index fell to 101.5 in the October-December period from 110.6 in the third quarter. That was the first decline since the second quarter of 2003. The index stood at 96.8 in the year-earlier quarter.

“Consumers faced with persistent high gasoline prices, sluggish job creation and slow economic growth turned pessimistic about current economic conditions and their outlook about the future has also become less optimistic,” the Chapman report said.

Part of the index that measures consumers’ planned spending on big-ticket items also fell, to 101.8 from 113.9 in the previous quarter. Although any reading above 100 suggests more consumers plan to increase spending than decrease it, such a large drop suggests slowing purchases over the next six months, the report said.

That “should be a concern for retailers,” it said.

Chapman’s index, launched in 2002, is similar to the University of Michigan’s monthly national survey of consumer sentiment.

The initial results for the University of Michigan survey, however, showed a rise in consumer confidence in December.