Confidence among U.S. consumers fell in July for the first time in five months as mounting unemployment and depressed wages shook households.

The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment decreased to 66, better than forecast, from 70.8 in June. A preliminary reading was 64.6.

The biggest employment slump of any recession in the past eight decades may be making more Americans feel their jobs are in jeopardy, Bloomberg reported.

The growing insecurity, together with falling home values, is prompting households to limit spending and save more, meaning an economic recovery will take time to gain speed.

“Consumers remain very cautious,” David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, told Bloomberg. “They’re concerned about the outlook for jobs. Consumer spending will be fairly flat at best.”