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Wednesday, December 28, 2005 7:30:41 PM
Consumer confidence improves in December
By Richard Leong
Wed Dec 28,10:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence improved in December to the highest level since August, before Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf and sent gasoline to record highs, a survey showed on Wednesday.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment rose in December to 103.6 from a November reading of 98.3, which had been downwardly revised from 98.9.
Economists polled by Reuters on average had forecast the index likely rose to 101.8.
"The resiliency of the economy, recent declines in prices at the pump and job growth have consumers feeling more confident at year-end than they felt at the start of 2005," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
The business research group's present situation index rose to 121.5 from a downwardly revised 113.2, while the expectations component increased to 91.6 from a downwardly revised 88.4 in November.
U.S. retail gasoline prices fell for the first time in three weeks, to $2.20 a gallon last week, off 1.4 cents from the prior week but up 41 cents from a year earlier, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
Consumers grew more optimistic about the jobs market at year-end, according to the Conference Board.
The survey's measure of the difficulty in finding jobs fell to 22.2 in December from an upwardly revised 23.6 in November, making this the lowest reading this year.
Sentiment indexes have traditionally been seen as a gauge of U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic activity. However, analysts note that consumer behavior does not always follow the findings of confidence surveys.
Early tallies suggested a solid if not spectacular year-end shopping season for U.S. retailers.
Seasonally adjusted holiday sales, excluding autos and gasoline, were running 5.2 percent ahead of a year ago, according to SpendingPulse, a data service of MasterCard Advisors, an arm of MasterCard International.
The SpendingPulse data spanned from November 25 to December 17.
Consumers picked up their purchases in the week leading to Christmas and the start of Hanukkah. A pair of reports by Redbook Research USREDY=ECI and the International Council of Shopping Centers with UBS Securities USUBSY=ECI showed U.S. chain store sales last week rose 4.5 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, from the comparable 2004 week.
In the December Conference Board survey, consumers said they were more likely to buy a car and major appliances in the next six months than they did in November, but less likely to buy a home.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051228/us_nm/economy_consumers_dc_4
By Richard Leong
Wed Dec 28,10:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence improved in December to the highest level since August, before Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf and sent gasoline to record highs, a survey showed on Wednesday.
The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment rose in December to 103.6 from a November reading of 98.3, which had been downwardly revised from 98.9.
Economists polled by Reuters on average had forecast the index likely rose to 101.8.
"The resiliency of the economy, recent declines in prices at the pump and job growth have consumers feeling more confident at year-end than they felt at the start of 2005," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
The business research group's present situation index rose to 121.5 from a downwardly revised 113.2, while the expectations component increased to 91.6 from a downwardly revised 88.4 in November.
U.S. retail gasoline prices fell for the first time in three weeks, to $2.20 a gallon last week, off 1.4 cents from the prior week but up 41 cents from a year earlier, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
Consumers grew more optimistic about the jobs market at year-end, according to the Conference Board.
The survey's measure of the difficulty in finding jobs fell to 22.2 in December from an upwardly revised 23.6 in November, making this the lowest reading this year.
Sentiment indexes have traditionally been seen as a gauge of U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic activity. However, analysts note that consumer behavior does not always follow the findings of confidence surveys.
Early tallies suggested a solid if not spectacular year-end shopping season for U.S. retailers.
Seasonally adjusted holiday sales, excluding autos and gasoline, were running 5.2 percent ahead of a year ago, according to SpendingPulse, a data service of MasterCard Advisors, an arm of MasterCard International.
The SpendingPulse data spanned from November 25 to December 17.
Consumers picked up their purchases in the week leading to Christmas and the start of Hanukkah. A pair of reports by Redbook Research USREDY=ECI and the International Council of Shopping Centers with UBS Securities USUBSY=ECI showed U.S. chain store sales last week rose 4.5 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, from the comparable 2004 week.
In the December Conference Board survey, consumers said they were more likely to buy a car and major appliances in the next six months than they did in November, but less likely to buy a home.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051228/us_nm/economy_consumers_dc_4
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