U.S. consumer confidence fell for a fourth straight month in November amid worries about current business conditions and employment prospects, but remained at levels sufficient to support a steady pace of consumer spending.

While other data Tuesday showed an unexpected drop in new home sales last month, data for September were revised higher to show purchases surging to their highest level in more than 12 years.

The housing market, the most sensitive sector to interest rates, is catching up to the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy stance, which has push down mortgage rates from last year’s multi-year highs.

Though housing accounts for a fraction of gross domestic product, it has a bigger economic footprint.

The rise in housing activity early in the fourth quarter suggests some support for the economy as it slows amid cooling consumer spending and persistent weakness in business investment and manufacturing.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slipped to a reading of 125.5 this month from an upwardly revised 126.1 in October.

The index was previously reported at 125.9 in September. It has declined for four straight months.

Economists polled had forecast the index would climb to 127 in November.

The survey’s present situation measure, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell to 166.9 this month from 173.5 in October.

The expectations index drawn from consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions rose to 97.9 from 94.5 last month.

Consumer confidence has retreated from a recent peak of 137.9 in October 2018. The 16-month trade war between the United States and China, which has bruised business sentiment, leading to a drop in capital expenditure that has contributed to a downturn in manufacturing, has been mainly blamed for the slide in consumer confidence.

Still the confidence index remains relatively high.

The Conference Board survey’s so-called labor market differential, derived from data on respondents’ views on whether jobs are plentiful or hard to get, fell to 32.1 in November from 36.1 in October. That measure closely correlates to the unemployment rate in the Labor Department’s employment report.

In a separate report Tuesday, the Commerce Department said new home sales dropped 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733,000 units last month, held down by decreases in activity in the South and Northeast regions.

September’s sales pace was revised higher to 738,000 units, the highest since July 2007, from the previously reported 701,000 units. (SD-Agencies)