A measure of consumer confidence has retreated on less upbeat expectations for business and labor conditions.

The Conference Board reported its Consumer Confidence Index fell 1.4 points to 113.8 in January. A component of the index tracking current conditions increased. But a component tracking the short-term outlook dropped.

“Expectations about short-term growth prospects weakened, pointing to a likely moderation in growth during the first quarter of 2022,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board.

Still, a bigger proportion of consumers said they plan to buy homes, automobiles and major appliances over the next six months, Franco said.

The Conference Board bases the index on the results of monthly household surveys. Economists monitor the index because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity,

More upbeat assessments of current conditions pushed up the present situation component of the index 3.4 points from December to 148.2.

The proportion of consumers responding to the survey upon which the January index was based who said business conditions were “good” rose 1.7 points to 21.1 percent. The share of those who said conditions were “bad” dropped 1.5 points to 25.6 percent.

The proportion of those who said jobs were “plentiful” fell eight-tenths of a point to 55.1 percent. But the share of those who said jobs were “hard to get” also fell — four-tenths of a point to 11.3 percent.

Less optimistic outlooks for the next six months pulled down the expectations component of the index 4.6 points to 90.8.

The share of consumers who said they expect business conditions to improve fell 1.6 points to 23.8 percent. The proportion of those who said they expect conditions to worsen rose four-tenths of a point to 19 percent.

The share of those who expected more jobs to become available in the months ahead fell 1.5 points to 22.7 percent. The proportion of those anticipated fewer jobs rose a point to 15.7 percent.

While 16.7 percent of consumers said they expected their incomes to increase — down eight-tenths of a point — 12.4 percent said they anticipated their incomes will decrease. That’s up 1.2 points.