Consumer Confidence in U.S. Falls to Lowest Level Since 2011

Confidence among U.S. consumers declined more than forecast in January, reaching the lowest level in more than a year as higher payroll taxes took a bigger bite out of Americans' paychecks.

The Conference Board's index decreased to 58.6, the weakest since November 2011, from a revised 66.7 in December, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The January reading was lower than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey, which had a median estimate of 64. The drop in confidence coincides with a two percentage- point increase in the payroll tax used to fund Social Security.