Consumer confidence rises 5 pts in January

[BTox]

Now a 20 point increase from September:


Consumer Confidence Index Climbs Five Points in January

January 27, 2004

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which had dipped last month, rose briskly in January. The Index now stands at 96.8 (1985=100), up from 91.7 in December. The Expectations Index rose to 108.1 from 103.3. The Present Situation Index increased to 80.0 from 74.3.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup. NFO is one of TNS group of companies (LSE: TNN). The cutoff date for January’s preliminary results was the 21st.

“Consumer confidence is now at its highest level since July 2002, when the Index registered 97.4,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “Growing optimism about the overall health of the economy continues to bolster consumers’ short-term outlook. But consumers’ assessment of current conditions, which strongly hinges on improvements in the labor market, remains both weak and volatile.”



Source: conference board 12/27/03 press release (http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerconfidence.cfm)

Once again, it's the economy, stupid...

[DavidJames]

Now a 20 point increase from September
Thanks for the update, oh, do you get paid by Bush for these posts or is it purely a volunteer efforts? :)

[BTox]

Originally posted by DavidJames

Thanks for the update, oh, do you get paid by Bush for these posts or is it purely a volunteer efforts? :)

I wish. This particular update is really for my good friend Ion. Haven't seen him in awhile!

[Ion]

Just being tied up at work.

I posted recently though in 'Why Kerry is winning NH'.

As for the consumer confidence going up, that's good but that's still a mini-trend yet.

To be confirmed, supported and developed with tax incentives to the middle and the lower class by Bush.

He should have done this support in 2001, instead of spending on wars.

(As for you posting recently elsewhere that the recession is over since 2001 from the GDP critera, I warned you to not believe in GDP artefacts but to believe in total U.S. jobs in order to decide about the recession.

The number of U.S. jobs is raising now, but that's still a mini-trend, and since 2001 the number declined.)