Consumer confidence took a sharp drop in June, with a widely watched index falling from 62.7 in May to 52.9, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

In a survey of 5,000 households, the percentage of respondents saying that business conditions were bad increased from 39.5 in May to 42.4 in June, according to the report.

Analysts said consumers are worried about job prospects, which caused the nearly 10-point decline. The index had risen in the three months prior to June. The European debt crisis was also cited as a cause of the drop in the index.

“Increasing uncertainty and apprehension about the future state of the economy and labor market, no doubt a result of the recent slowdown in job growth, are the primary reasons for the sharp reversal in confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “Until the pace of job growth picks up, consumer confidence is not likely to pick up.”

Although jobs have been created every month, May’s numbers were the lowest and there was a slight increase in the number of people who said jobs are hard to get, Bloomberg reported.

“It is unlikely that sentiment will improve to truly optimistic levels until robust job creation returns and home prices stabilize,” said Steven Wood, president of Insight Economics LLC.