It is possible to see both clear gains in economic statistics and very clear destruction in the economic statistics. Today’s consumer confidence reading was a major erosion and far worse than expectations. The reading for February’s consumer confidence fell all the way down to 46.0 from 56.5 in January. Bloomberg was expecting a mere drop down to 55.0.
The Present Situation Index decreased to 19.4 from 25.2, while the Expectations Index fell all the way down to 63.8 from 77.3 in January. The survey is taken from 5,000 households and the cut-off date was February 17.
Those claiming conditions are “good” decreased to 6.2 percent from 8.5 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased to 46.3 percent from 44.7 percent.
The report noted, “Concerns about current business conditions and the job market pushed the Present Situation Index down to its lowest level in 27 years (Feb. 1983, 17.5). Consumers’ short-term outlook also took a turn for the worse….”
There may be some exceptions in here. Unfortunately, you can put a pig in a prom dress and put lipstick and makeup on it. You still just have a pig.
JON C. OGG
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