stubeeef
Dec 28, 2004, 06:52 PM
link (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&e=3&u=/nm/20041228/bs_nm/economy_dc)
Incase anyone wants to know something other than how bad everything is.
I am an optomist on this one thing, many will chime it to say how really rotten things really are. But thought I would try to say 1 good thing.
(Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence (news - web sites) grew to a five-month high in December, bolstered by improved employment opportunities and cheaper energy, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Confidence in the economy was also given a boost earlier on Tuesday with the release of data showing U.S. chain store sales rose for the fourth week in a row in the week ending Dec. 25.
But the big market mover on Tuesday was the surprisingly strong consumer confidence data from The Conference Board (news - web sites), a New York business research group. The index rose to 102.3 in December, the highest level since July.
"The continuing economic expansion, combined with job growth, has consumers ending the year on a high note," said Lynn Franco, director of consumer research at The Conference Board.
The result easily topped both November's upwardly revised reading of 92.6 and economists' expectations.
The number sparked buying in the stock market and selling in the bond market, as investors in each market expressed their own brand of confidence in the economy.
The strong consumer confidence levels had debt investors thinking the Federal Reserve (news - web sites) will be more inclined to continue to boost official interest rates if economic confidence is growing. Higher interest rates mean lower debt prices.
The employment picture played a key role in the growth in confidence, with the number of consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" rising to 19.4 percent in December from 17.1 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" eased to 26.4 percent from 28.0 percent in November.
"The (headline) number does show that people feel jobs are much more plentiful and are more optimistic about spending," said Elisabeth Denison, economist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York.
Incase anyone wants to know something other than how bad everything is.
I am an optomist on this one thing, many will chime it to say how really rotten things really are. But thought I would try to say 1 good thing.
(Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence (news - web sites) grew to a five-month high in December, bolstered by improved employment opportunities and cheaper energy, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Confidence in the economy was also given a boost earlier on Tuesday with the release of data showing U.S. chain store sales rose for the fourth week in a row in the week ending Dec. 25.
But the big market mover on Tuesday was the surprisingly strong consumer confidence data from The Conference Board (news - web sites), a New York business research group. The index rose to 102.3 in December, the highest level since July.
"The continuing economic expansion, combined with job growth, has consumers ending the year on a high note," said Lynn Franco, director of consumer research at The Conference Board.
The result easily topped both November's upwardly revised reading of 92.6 and economists' expectations.
The number sparked buying in the stock market and selling in the bond market, as investors in each market expressed their own brand of confidence in the economy.
The strong consumer confidence levels had debt investors thinking the Federal Reserve (news - web sites) will be more inclined to continue to boost official interest rates if economic confidence is growing. Higher interest rates mean lower debt prices.
The employment picture played a key role in the growth in confidence, with the number of consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" rising to 19.4 percent in December from 17.1 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" eased to 26.4 percent from 28.0 percent in November.
"The (headline) number does show that people feel jobs are much more plentiful and are more optimistic about spending," said Elisabeth Denison, economist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York.
