Your Economy (No Politics)

[Bullwinkle]

Consumer confidence fell to 101.7 in February
Tue Feb 28, 10:26 AM ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence fell in February, as consumers appraised their current situation positively but expressed concern about the future, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell in February to 101.7 from a January reading of 106.8.

Economists polled by Reuters on average had called for a more modest slip to 104.5 in February.

But the Conference Board's Present Situation Index and Expectations Index diverged sharply. The Present Situation Index rose to a 4-1/2-year high of 129.3 in February from 128.8 in January while the Expectations Index, in contrast, fell to 83.3 in February from 92.1 in January.

"Consumers are growing increasingly concerned about the short-term health of the economy and, in turn, about job prospects," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "The Expectations Index is now at its lowest level in three years, excluding the two months following Hurricane Katrina."

Franco said if consumers' expectations continue to lose ground, "the outlook for the remainder of 2006 could deteriorate."

Consumers' assessments about the job market in February were mixed, according to the Conference Board. The portion of consumers who said that jobs were "plentiful" rose to 27.3 percent in February from 27.0 percent in January. But those who said that jobs were "hard to get" also edged higher, climbing to 20.7 percent in February from 20.3 percent in January.

The outlook on the job market was also less favorable in February than it was in January. The portion of consumers who expected fewer jobs to become available in coming months jumped to 20.0 percent in February from 15.2 percent in January.

Sentiment indexes have traditionally been seen as a gauge of U.S. consumer spending, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic activity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060228/bs_nm/economy_consumers_dc_2