U.S. consumer confidence decreased to a nine-month low in November as accelerating inflation and a pickup in Covid-19 cases weighed on Americans’ views on the economy. The Conference Board’s index declined to 109.5 from a downwardly revised 111.6 reading in October, according to the group’s report Tuesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a drop to 110.9. “Expectations about short-term growth prospects ticked up, but job and income prospects ticked down,” Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said in a statement. “Concerns about rising prices — and, to a lesser degree, the delta variant — were the primary drivers of the slight decline in confidence.” Bolstered by solid job growth, robust wage gains and record-high stock prices, consumer sentiment is well-above levels seen earlier in the pandemic. However, a resurgence in Covid-19 cases and the fastest inflation in decades has hampered a sustained […]