Consumers had a more optimistic outlook about the economy in November, according to a monthly survey. The Consumer Confidence Index hit 107.1 in November, when economists only expected the consumer confidence index to be 101.2. This was up from 98.6 in October. This shows an improvement since October and is once again at pre-recession levels. The survey measures confidence toward business conditions, short-term outlook, personal finances and jobs. The majority of consumers were surveyed before the presidential election, however, it appeared from the post-election sample that optimism was not impacted by the outcome. The report did state that the proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead was unchanged at 14.5%, but those anticipating fewer jobs fell to 13.8% from 16.6%.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/29/consumer-confidence-for-november-2016.html
It looks like all positive signs for the recovery of the economy, but now that we are at consumer confidence levels higher than pre-recession times it gives is a little worrying because we don't know if the economy is fully recovered, still recovering, or in a bubble.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a good to hear the United States economy is heading in the right direction. It will be interesting to see what happens to consumer confidence, if the federal reserve decides to raise interest rates, as this will decrease investment. It will also be interesting to see where this goes when Trump officially takes over the white house.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the post-election sample was unchanged by the outcome of the election. I wonder how that will change, if at all, when the next election comes around. It is great, though, that consumer confidence is so high and even greater than economists had expected.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the US economy will see the effect of these higher confidence levels to bring levels of consumption up into competition with the stock market, which could be in a bubble right now. If these high levels of confidence do manifest, it may relax the impact of the extreme stock market growth.
ReplyDeleteIt is a positive sign for the economy that consumer confidence levels are increasing, since levels of consumption and investment would increase, due to the perception of higher net returns. It would be interesting to see how rising interest rates could affect consumer confidence levels in the near future.
ReplyDelete