A measure of consumer confidence continues to retreat on less upbeat assessments of business and labor conditions.

The Conference Board reported its Consumer Confidence Index fell 1.7 points to 102.6 in October for a third consecutive month of declines.

“Consumers continued to be preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for grocery and gasoline prices in particular. Consumers also expressed concerns about the political situation and higher interest rates. Worries around war and conflicts also rose amid the recent turmoil in the Middle East,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist of the Conference Board.

More than two-thirds of consumers said they consider a recession “somewhat” or “very likely,” Peterson said, although they continue to spend on goods and services. Plans to purchase automobiles and applicants trended upward over the past six months.

The New York-based think tank bases the Consumer Confidence Index on the results of monthly household surveys.

Less optimistic assessments of current business and labor conditions pulled the present situation component of the index down 3.1 points to 143.1 in October.

The share of consumers who responded to the survey upon which the October index was based who called business conditions “good” fell nine-tenths of a point to 19.1 percent. The proportion of those who said conditions were “bad” rose 2.4 points to 18.3 percent.

The share of consumers who said jobs were “plentiful” slipped three-tenths of a point to 39.4 percent. The proportion of those who said jobs were “hard to get” also fell — 1.1 points to 13.1 percent.

A less upbeat outlook pulled down the expectations component of the index eight-tenths of a point. At 75.6, the latest reading remains below 80 — a level that historically signals a recession within the next year.

The proportion of consumers who said they expect business conditions to improve over the next six months rose 1.2 points to 16.5 percent. But the share of those anticipating worsening conditions increased more — 1.5 points to 20.2 percent.

The proportion of consumers who said they expect more jobs to become available in coming months edged down two-tenths of a point to 16 percent. The share of those forecasting fewer jobs edged up a tenth of a point to 19 percent.

While 15.6 percent of consumer said they expect their incomes to increase, 13 percent anticipated less income.