U.S. consumer confidence slipped in March, as job worries continued to take their toll, the U.S. Conference Board said today.

The Conference Board said its closely watched index of consumer confidence fell to 88.3 from a revised 88.5 in February.

Economists had expected the index to fall to 86 from the originally reported 87.3.

“While consumers claimed business conditions were more favorable in March than last month, they also claimed jobs were less readily available,” Lynn Franco, director of the firm’s Consumer Research Center, said in a release. “The labor market not only continues to dampen consumers’ present-day spirits, but it is also making them less optimistic about the short-term outlook.”

The survey’s expectations index, measuring consumers’ expectations for the future, fell to 91 from a downwardly revised 91.9 in February. The present situation index, however, rose to 84.1 from a revised 83.3.