NEW YORK, April 24 - Clouding growing hopes that theslumping U.S. economy was set for a swift recovery, a key barometer ofconsumer confidence tumbled again in April as deteriorating businessconditions and worries about job security soured the more upbeat moodwhich prevailed in March, a survey showed on Tuesday. Underpinning hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again at itsMay 15 policy meeting, the Conference Board, a New York-based privateresearch group, said its broad gauge of consumer attitudes slid sharply to109.2 in April from a downwardly-revised March reading of 116.9, itssixth tumble in seven months. Consensus forecasts were for a fall to 112.0. The economic outlook for the next six months, which helped to boost theindex in March, fell to 78.2 in April from a downwardly-revised 83.1 inMarch, suggesting that 2.0 percentage points worth of interest rate cutsfrom the Fed so far this year had not yet reversed growing consumerpessimism. The present situation index tumbled nearly 12 points to 155.6from an upwardly-revised 167.5 in the prior month. "Deteriorating business conditions and a less favorable job market are thetwo critical reasons for the latest decline in confidence. It's clear thatconsumers have begun to worry about employment trends and theseconcerns are gnawing away at consumer confidence," said Lynn Franco,director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. The Conference Board's index is compiled from a representative sample of5,000 households each month. The April drop followed a surprisingly sharpdip in the preliminary April University of Michigan sentiment index, releasedmid-month.