Consumer confidence rose last week by the most since the beginning of April as Americans’ views of the buying climate and their finances improved. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index increased to 42.6 in the period ended June 21 after climbing to 40.9 the prior week. CONT. Erin Roman, Bloomberg Read more »
Economic Confidence Index, Gas Prices Linked
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index averaged -6 for the week ending June 14. This reading continues the trend in generally lower confidence levels over the last several months, compared with the readings in positive territory in late 2014 and early 2015. CONT. Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
American Consumers Getting Mojo Back as Wages Start Rising
Bigger paychecks are giving American consumers reason to believe again. The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for June rose to 94.6, topping all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, from a reading of 90.7 last month, figures showed Friday. Households were the most upbeat about their wage prospects […] Read more »
Most in U.S. Say Low Gas Prices Make Difference in Finances
U.S. gas prices are nearly a dollar lower than they were a year ago and have been running below their 2014 peak since last spring. But what is the effect of the increase in disposable income on Americans? And where is that money going? CONT. Art Swift, Gallup Read more »
Consumer Comfort Falls to Lowest Level Since November
Consumer confidence in the U.S. slipped last week to a six-month low as views of the buying climate softened, indicating a re-acceleration in household spending may be slow to materialize. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to 40.5 in the seven days ended May 31 from 40.9 in the prior […] Read more »
The Tradeoff Fallacy: How Marketers Are Misrepresenting American Consumers and Opening Them Up to Exploitation
New Annenberg survey results indicate that marketers are misrepresenting a large majority of Americans by claiming that Americans give out information about themselves as a tradeoff for benefits they receive. To the contrary, the survey reveals most Americans do not believe that ‘data for discounts’ is a square deal. CONT. […] Read more »