U.S. Consumer Confidence Up Sharply in December
U.S. consumer confidence posted sharp gains in December, with survey respondents saying they had high expectations for business, income and employment in the coming six months,
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped 4.3 points to 113.7, up from 109.4 in the month before.
The jump was solely due to an increase in the Expectations Index, according to Lynn Franco, the board's director of economic indicators. That index hit a 13-year high at 105.5, with post-election optimism most pronounced among older consumers.
"Consumers' assessment of current conditions, which declined, still suggests that economic growth continued through the final months of 2016," Franco said in a statement.
The share of consumers saying business conditions were good fell 0.5 points to 29.7 percent but those saying things were bad rose by a greater degree, 2.1 points to 17.3 percent.
Views on the current jobs situation were more stable, with the share of people saying jobs were "plentiful" falling 0.9 points to 26.9 percent while those who said jobs were hard to get rose 1.3 points to 22.5 percent.
The short-term outlook was much rosier. Expectations for business conditions jumped 7.2 points to 23.6 percent and those foreseeing more jobs moved up 5.9 points to 21 percent.
"Looking ahead to 2017, consumers' continued optimism will depend on whether or not their expectations are realized," Franco said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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