US consumer confidence continued to fall to new lows in the first month of 2009 as the world's largest economy struggles through a serious recession, a private research group said Tuesday, according to dpa. The New York-based Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 37.7 in January, the lowest since records began in 1967, down from an upward revised 38.6 in December. Last month's figure was itself an all-time low. "It appears that consumers have begun the New Year with the same degree of pessimism that they exhibited in the final months of 2008," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Centre, in a statement. On Friday, the US will get its first indications of just how bad the final months of 2008 were for the economy, as preliminary fourth- quarter growth figures are to be released by the government. Economists predict a contraction of as much as 5 per cent. US President Barack Obama is pushing for an 825-billion-dollar economic stimulus package to be approved by Congress, which he hopes will kickstart the economy and save or create more than 3 million jobs. Obama was to meet Tuesday afternoon with Republican lawmakers who have voiced skepticism that the bill - a mixture of tax cuts and government spending - will revive the economy. "We have concerns that the plan that House Democrats are going to bring to the floor will not help," said John Boehner, leader of minority Republicans in the House of Representatives.
