The U.S. Conference Board reported Tuesday that it’s Consumer Confidence Index declined sharply in February, the third consecutive monthly decline. The index now stands at 64, down from 78.8 in January, an almost 15-point drop.

It was the lowest reading for the index since October 1993. Economists, on average, expected a reading of 77.

The Expectations Index fell to 65.6 from 81.1. The Present Situation Index dropped to 61.6 from 75.3.

“Lackluster job and financial markets, rising fuel costs, and the increasing threat of war and terrorism appear to have taken a toll on consumers,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “This month’s confidence readings paint a gloomy picture of current economic conditions, with no apparent rebound on the short-term horizon.”

Consumers’ assessment of current conditions turned extremely bleak. Those rating current business conditions as “bad” rose to 30.7% from 26.7%. Those holding the opposite view declined to 13.2% from 15%.

Consumers’ expectations for the next six months were also considerably more pessimistic than last month. Those anticipating that business conditions will worsen increased to 19% from 14%. Those anticipating an improvement fell to 15.3% from 17.7%.

The U.S. employment outlook was also grim. Consumers reporting jobs are hard to get rose to a nine-year high of 30.1% from 28.9%. Those claiming jobs are plentiful decreased to 11.2% from 14.5%.

Consumers anticipating fewer jobs to become available in the next six months surged to 28.4% from 21.2%. Those expecting more jobs fell to 12.7% from 14.2%. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their income dropped to 15.2%, an all-time low, from 18.4%.