U.S. consumer confidence fell in November following a big gain in October, as Americans became less bullish about the economy and jobs.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 88.7 in November, down from a seven-year high of 94.5 in October.

Conference Board economist Lynn Franco said that the decline primarily reflected weaker optimism in the short-term, with consumers less upbeat about current business conditions and the state of the job market.

But she added that expectations about future income remained virtually unchanged.

The proportion of consumers saying business conditions were good decreased from 24.7 percent to 24 percent, while those claiming business conditions were bad increased from 21.3 percent to 22.4 percent.

Even with the decline from October, consumer sentiment at 88.7 was still significantly higher than the 72.0 reading of November 2013.

The steep recession, which claimed millions of jobs and made those still working fearful of further layoffs, pushed confidence down sharply for a number of years after the recession ended in June 2009. But steady hiring and fewer layoffs over the past 12 months have helped to boost morale. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in November, the lowest level since 2008.

Story compiled from Associated Press

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Ataman Ozyildirim of Conference Board discusses drop in consumer confidence

CCTV America’s Michelle Makori interviewed economist Ataman Ozyildirim, director of business cycles and growth research at The Conference Board.