Consumer Confidence Jumps Up In February

Hard times are still evident in the United States, but consumer confidence is less reflective of them. The latest reading is a three-year high of 70.4, from January's 64.8; expectations were for 66.

“Looking ahead, consumers are more positive about the economy and their income prospects, but feel somewhat mixed about employment conditions,” Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, in a statement....

The report for February is the first using a new survey provider, but the questions were unchanged. Data have been restated back to November, but older data can be compared with new results, according to the Conference Board.

Maybe. Hard times still peek through: a reading of 90 or above is consistent with an economy growing at a healthy clip. The biggest jump was in the consumer expectations subcategory, although assessment of present conditions grew as well. A huge divergence (in number terms) exists betweeen the two subcategories right now: 95.1 for expectations, 33.4 for current conditions. Evidently, there are a lot of hopes out there.


Although less current, the Case-Shiller Index of house prices showed a drop of 1.0% for December. Home prices were hugging the bottom of the trough at that time.


Gold didn't take the numbers very well, but its drop was largely confined to discounting the consumer-confidence news before release. After dipping to a little below $1,400, and staying there for about a half an hour, it added a few bucks an ounce to get back up above $1,400.