August's stock market mayhem has Americans feeling worse about everything

Consumer confidence plunged in September.

On Friday, the University of Michigan's preliminary reading on consumer confidence in September came in at 85.7.

Expectations were for the reading to come in at 91.1, down from 91.9 in August.

This declines is the first that seems to really reflect the stock market chaos and global economic uncertainty that abounded in late August, when the benchmark S&P 500 fell about 6% and made national news headlines.

In the report, Richard Curtin, chief economist for the survey, said, "The decline in optimism narrowed in early September from late August as consumers grew somewhat more confident that the underlying strength in the domestic economy would insure a continued expansion."

Curtin added:

The twin strengths of higher employment and lower prices softened the impact from the losses in household wealth. To be sure, consumers still anticipate a weaker domestic economy due to the global slowdown and are less optimistic about future growth in jobs and wages than they were a few months ago. While the current strength in consumer spending is still likely to persist in the year ahead, the more lasting impact of recent events may be a heightened attentiveness by consumers to potential negative developments. Without this recent shift in focus, consumers would have been more likely to view the Fed's interest rate hike as confirming their prevailing optimism, but with the shift, it could be taken as a signal for a slower pace of future economic growth.

Friday's 85.7 reading was the lowest in a year.

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