A monthly measure of consumer confidence edged down as their assessments of current conditions improved, but their expectations worsened.

“Over the last six months, confidence has been moving sideways with no real trend to the upside or downside either by income or age group,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.

The New York-based think tank reported its Consumer Confidence Index edged down a tenth of a point to 104.7 in March. The organization bases the index on the results of monthly surveys of United States households.

Peterson said the latest survey results reflected concerns about higher prices for food and gasoline as well as the political environment. Fears about the possibility of a recession over the next year continued to trend downward, however.

More upbeat assessments of business and labor conditions pushed up the present situation component of the index 2.4 points to 151.

The proportion of consumers responding to the survey upon which the March index was based who called business conditions good decreased nine-tenths of a point to 19.5 percent. The share of those who called business conditions bad fell a half point to 17.2 percent.

The proportion of consumers who said jobs were plentiful rose three-tenths of a point to 43.1 percent. The share of those who said jobs were hard to get fell 1.8 points to 10.9 percent.

Less optimistic outlooks pulled down the expectations component of the index 2.5 points to 73.8. Readings below 80 often signal an impending recession.

The share of consumers who said they expect business conditions to improve over the next six months rose three-tenths of a point to 14.3 percent. The proportion of those who anticipated worsening conditions increased more — seven-tenths of a point to 17.6 percent.

The share of consumers who said they expected more jobs to become available fell two-tenths of a point to 13.9 percent. The proportion of those who anticipated fewer jobs rose seven-tenths of a point to 18.2 percent.

While 16.5 percent of consumers responding to the survey said they expected their incomes to increase, 13.8 percent anticipated decreases.