Keywords: Confidence U.S. consumers, index of sentiment
Confidence among U.S. consumers
unexpectedly increased in August as Americans grew more
optimistic about the prospects for the world’s largest economy.
The Conference Board’s index of sentiment advanced to 81.5
from a revised 81 the prior month that was stronger than
initially estimated, the New York-based private research group
reported today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of
economists was 79.
Sustained job growth and increased wealth tied to higher
home values and stock portfolios are helping to sustain the
household spending, boosting automakers and home-improvement
retailers such as Lowe’s Cos. Today’s report showed more
Americans expected a pickup in employment opportunities and
income gains in the next six months.
“The household sector is still improving and a lot of that
improvement comes from home prices,” said Sam Coffin, an
economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. UBS
Securities is the top forecaster of the Conference Board’s index
in the last two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Estimates for consumer confidence ranged from 74.3 to 82 in
the Bloomberg survey of 71 economists after an initial July
reading of 80.3. The measure averaged 53.7 during the recession
that ended in June 2009. The cutoff date for the Conference
Board’s survey was Aug. 15.Read more...
