US consumer confidence deteriorates in December

US reports this week showed that consumer confidence impaired in December while single-family home prices dropped double the expected pace in October which contributed to optimism about economic recovery.

The Conference Board reported that worries over the jobs market pushed an index of consumer attitudes to 52.5 in December from 54.3 in November. It is below the median of forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters for a reading of 56.0.

"U.S. consumers are still worried about high unemployment, housing market stagnation and the generally meager growth they've seen so far," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT in New York.

After the data at the start of the month showed the unemployment rate jumped in November to a seven-month high of 9.8 percent consumers’ assessment of the labor market worsened in December.

The "jobs hard to get" index of the sentiment survey rose to 46.8 percent in December from 46.3 percent last month, while the "jobs plentiful" index dropped to 3.9 percent from 4.3 percent.

Another report on Tuesday showed U.S. single-family home prices fell for a fourth straight month in October, pressured by a supply glut, home foreclosures and high unemployment.