New York, Oct 26 (IANS/EFE): US consumer confidence in the way the economy is shaping up fell to its lowest level in more than two years this month mainly due to the drop in future expectations, authorities reported Tuesday.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell this month to 39.8 points, well below the 46.4 points registered in September.

The figure also was far below the predictions of analysts who had forecast a reading of 46 for the first half of October.

"Consumer confidence is now back to levels last seen during the 2008-09 recession," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

"(E)xpectations, which had improved in September, gave back all of the gain and then some, as concerns about business conditions, the labor market and income prospects increased," she said.

The subindex that measures consumer confidence with respect to how the economic and labor panorama will look within six months fell to 48.7 points in October, compared to 55.1 last month.

"Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions did not fare any better," Franco said, referring to a decline in the Present Situation Index from 33.3 points in September to 26.3 early this month.

That index "posted its sixth consecutive monthly decline, as pessimism about the current economic environment continues to grow", the Conference Board analyst said.