US consumer confidence fell for a second straight month in July as a difficult job market weighed on sentiment, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The business research firm said its confidence index fell to 46.6 from 49.3 in June, which came after an eight-month peak of 54.8 in May. The figure was weaker than analyst expectations of 49.0.The report underscored fears that while the US economy is showing signs of recovery from recession, rising unemployment could dampen any recovery by hurting consumer income and spending.

The sub-indexes in the survey also were lower, with the present situation index down 1.6 points at 23.4 and the expectations index off 3.5 points at 62.The weak outlook on current conditions "was caused primarily by a worsening job market," said Lynn Franco, the Conference Board's research director. Franco said that "more consumers are pessimistic about their income expectations, which does not bode well for spending in the months ahead.