Your Economy (No Politics)

[basserdan]

10:00a Consumer sentiment surges to 98.0 in early December, University of Michigan says

10:01a U.S. stocks hold gains after consumer sentiment data

From Marketwatch:

Consumer sentiment jumped in early December as Americans equated Donald Trump’s surprise victory with policies that would buoy economic growth.

The University of Michigan's gauge surged 4.5% to 98.0, one-tenth of a percent from a cycle high touched in 2015, which was the highest since 2004.

The median forecast among economists surveyed by MarketWatch was 95.0.

Consumer views of the current state of the economy brightened by 4.5%, as well, rising to 112.1. And views about the economic outlook rose 4.3% to 88.9.

“When asked what news they had heard of recent economic developments, more consumers spontaneously mentioned the expected positive impact of new economic policies than ever before recorded in the long history of the surveys,” wrote survey director Richard Curtin in a statement.

Yet survey respondents also volunteered “negative judgments” about economic policies, Curtin noted, and there was less optimism among respondents with college degrees and those living in the Northeast.

And Curtin noted that much uncertainty remains about Trump’s policies.