RBC consumer confidence index drops to lowest level since 2002

U.S. economy: 'the rocks are there'

"I'll use an analogy from my sister, the marriage counselor: when a marriage goes on the rocks, the rocks are there," Langan said. "The U.S. economy has some very real rocks, some very real problems, and concern about these problems is being reflected in economic surveys."

Compounding those concerns is an incomplete picture regarding the health of the U.S. credit markets, Langan said. "The U.S. consumer and stock markets tend to line up. Americans know about subprime defaults and they see the housing slump around them in the form of lower homes prices, but there's also a sense that we're not at the bottom regarding subprime assets, and we find an expression of this in the Dow [Dow Jones Industrial Average], which has basically meandered for about two months. This is probably the most uncertain economic environment adults have had to deal with since the economic period just after the September 11, [2001] terrorist attack."

The RBC CASH Index is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings and confidence to make large investments. This month's survey polled 1,006 U.S. adults.