With across-the-board government spending cuts creating uncertainty regarding the economic outlook, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing a notable deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of March.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 59.7 in March from a revised 68.0 in February. Economists had expected the index to dip to 67.5 from the 69.6 originally reported for the previous month.