US consumer confidence steady in March; inflation expectations creep up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence was little changed in March as fading fears of a recession took a backseat to growing concerns about the nation's political environment ahead of November's presidential election, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index dipped to 104.7 this month, essentially unchanged from a downwardly revised 104.8 in February.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index nudging up to 107.0 from the previously reported 106.7.

"Recession fears continued to trend downward," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board in Washington. "Meanwhile, consumers expressed more concern about the US political environment compared to prior months."

Consumers' inflation expectations ticked up to 5.3% from 5.2% in February.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani)