Economy, Consumer Confidence | featured news

Bloomberg reports that U.S. consumer confidence is almost back to pre-recession levels. But is that actually good news? Over at the Big Picture, James Bianco says it’s not clear why “consumer confidence” is a useful metric. It’s not correlated with jobs. Or retail sales.

U.S. auto sales rose sharply in November as more confident American consumers spent more on the average showroom purchase, extending a recovery trend for the industry to a sixth month.

U.S. consumer confidence bounced back from a 2-1/2 year low in November as apprehension about job and income prospects eased, according to a private sector report released Tuesday.

Growth in retail sales stalled in August after a pitched battle over spending in Congress led consumer confidence to crumble, data showed on Wednesday.

Consumer confidence fell in June to the lowest point since November 2010 on concerns about the slack labor market and sputtering recovery, according to a Conference Board report released on Tuesday.

Consumers felt better about the short-term outlook for the economy in April as expectations about the pace of inflation and concerns about the labor market eased.

U.S. consumer confidence fell in March after hitting a three-year high in the prior month as expectations about jobs and income growth worsened.

Consumer confidence rose in February to its highest point in three years as Americans feel more optimistic about their income prospects and the direction the economy is headed.

The Consumer Confidence Index rose in January to its highest level in eight months with Americans growing a little more confident about the job market and business conditions.

Consumer confidence sank in July to its lowest since February on job market worries, underscoring the slow path to economic recovery, and home prices rose in May but without signs of a sustained rebound, reports released on Tuesday showed.