Advisors' confidence in the economy declined this month, after rising for most of the year, according to a new survey.
The slip in confidence, which the survey's authors attributed to a shaky economy and job environment, was the first decline in the Advisor Confidence Index (ACI) since February, according to Rydex|SGI AdvisorBenchmarking.
The overall index was down 8% in July. Advisors' six-month economic outlook was down 10.01% and their current economic outlook was down 9.38%. The one-year outlook was down 5.71% and the stock market outlook was down 8.01%.
In interviews with advisors, Rydex|SGI said it found heightened concern about jobs and the economy.
"Green shoots will wilt with the growing debt, national healthcare and increasing unemployment," Peter Wheeler of Wheeler/Frost Associates Inc. in San Diego, Calif., told Rydex|SGI. "The consumer will not be the engine for this recovery."