NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumer confidence sustained one of its biggest drops on record in 16 years of polls in the week ended Oct. 6, falling to its lowest level since January 1996, according to the ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort index.

The ratings of the national economy sank sharply as well, tumbling to their worst level in eight and a half years.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort index, based on these gauges, lost five points last week to -20 on its scale of +100 to -100.

Expectations, measured separately, also have worsened: Forty-eight percent now say the economy's getting worse, up 12 points in the last month and the highest level since November. Economic pessimists now outnumber optimists by more than three-to-one.

In the latest survey, 27 percent of Americans said the U.S. economy is in good shape, down three points from the previous week. The best was 80 percent on Jan. 16, 2000, and the worst was 7 percent in late 1991 and early 1992.

The study also concluded that 55 percent of Americans rated their personal finances as excellent or good, down 2 points from the week ended Sept. 29. The best showing was 70 percent in the week of Aug. 30, 1998. The worst rating was 42 percent on March 14, 1993.

Also, 38 percent of the survey participants said it's an excellent or good time to buy things they want and need, down two points from the previous weekly poll. The best was 57 percent from the week of Jan. 16, 2000. The worst happened in the fall of 1990 with 20 percent.

The ABC News/Money magazine survey represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews with about 1,000 adults nationwide each week. This week's results are based on 1,024 interviews in the month ended Oct. 6, 2002 and have an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.