Consumer mood crumbles in July

LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment dived to a record low in July, a survey showed on Wednesday, as fears grew about the risks of a recession and rising living costs.

The Nationwide building society said its consumer confidence index fell 11 points to 51 last month -- the biggest fall recorded since the series began in 2004.

The figure reinforces a raft of bleak surveys and official economic data pointing to a sharp slowdown and possible mild recession, although interest rates are expected to remain on hold for some time because of strong inflation.

"Talk of the increasing chances of a recession, more weakening in the housing market and the continuing rise of food and energy costs will have further dented confidence as will reports of job losses," said Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide chief economist.

The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates at 5 percent on Thursday and consumers may have to wait for some time before inflation cools and policymakers feel comfortable about lowering interest rates.

The Nationwide survey showed consumers are not expecting the economic climate to improve over the next six months, with the expectations index down 10 points to 55.

The index measuring the public's perception of the current state of the economy fell to 47 in July from 57 in June and the spending index, which indicates how confident consumers feel about splashing out on costlier items, fell to 54 from 61.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon; editing by Stephen Nisbet)