Consumer confidence retreated in February from a 13-year high as Americans tempered expectations of their finances and the economy, with sentiment remaining sharply divided among party lines. The University of Michigan said Friday that its preliminary index of sentiment cooled to a three-month low of 95.7 from 98.5 in January. […] Read more »
Consumer optimism surges in January amid partisanship
Consumers expressed a higher level of confidence in January than at any other time in the last dozen years. The post-election surge in confidence was driven by a more optimistic outlook for the economy and job growth during the year ahead as well as more favorable economic prospects over the […] Read more »
Americans’ Personal Financial Assessments Best Since 2007
Americans are more upbeat about their personal finances today than at any time in the past 10 years, with 49% saying they are financially better off than they were a year ago. This is up from the 44% who felt financially better off at the same time last year and […] Read more »
Widespread Pessimism or Glimmers of Hope? US Consumer Confidence After the 2016 Presidential Election
The 2016 US presidential election can be characterized by widespread discontent with the status quo. Indeed, a supermajority of Americans see the system as broken. And strong majorities across party lines believe that America is on the “wrong track”. However, American consumer confidence has strongly rebounded since the Great Recession […] Read more »
Economic Confidence Reaches Record High in December
Americans ended 2016 with higher confidence in the U.S. economy than they have expressed at any other point since 2008. Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index averaged +9 in December, up eight points from November. CONT. Justin McCarthy, Gallup Read more »
High Expectations Could Bedevil Trump
Some things in politics are hard to reconcile. Since Donald Trump’s election last month, economic optimism has skyrocketed. … With all that in mind, consider that President Obama’s job-approval ratings are way up. … So how can voters be happy with Obama’s job in office and yet almost euphoric about […] Read more »