Consumer Confidence Pops Higher in December

Consumers saw a bounce in confidence at the end of December. The Conference Board has released its Consumer Confidence Index with a reading of 96.5, up from 92.6 in November. Bloomberg was calling for a reading of 93.5, and the highest reading from its Econoday pool of estimates was 95.0.

The Present Situation Index rose to 115.3 in December from 110.9 last month, and the Expectations Index rose to 83.9 from 80.4 in November. The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey is conducted for the Conference Board each month by Nielsen, and the cutoff date for the preliminary results was December 15.

Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions was mixed in December, while consumer optimism about the short-term outlook was also somewhat mixed. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was seen as more optimistic. Individual component data from the report was shown as follows:

• Those saying business conditions are “good” increased from 25.0% to 27.3%.
• Those saying business conditions are “bad” also increased from 16.9% to 19.8%.
• The proportion claiming jobs are “plentiful” increased from 21.0% to 24.1%.
• Those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 24.7% from 25.8%.
• Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased slightly to 15.2% from 15.7%.
• Those expecting business conditions to worsen increased slightly to 11.0% from 10.6%.
• Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased slightly to 12.9% from 12.0%.
• Those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 18.5% to 16.6%.
• The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase declined from 17.3% to 16.3%.
• The proportion expecting a reduction in income decreased from 11.8% to 9.7%.

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Tuesday’s official quote from the Conference Board:

Consumer confidence improved in December, following a moderate decrease in November. As 2015 draws to a close, consumers’ assessment of the current state of the economy remains positive, particularly their assessment of the job market. Looking ahead to 2016, consumers are expecting little change in both business conditions and the labor market. Expectations regarding their financial outlook are mixed, but the optimists continue to outweigh the pessimists.