Some Good News from Consumers

On January 29 the University of Michigan reported that its Index of Consumer Sentiment was 74.4 in January (March 1965=100). That was the highest since January 2008, the first full month of the recession.

Survey director Dr. Richard Curtin said, “Consumers are overwhelmingly convinced that the worst is over but nonetheless expect stagnating income and job prospects rather than solid growth during the year ahead.” Consumers’ attitudes and spending should rise during the course of 2010 as economic growth continues.

Consumers: Can Bad News Be a Harbinger of Great News?

On October 27 the Conference Board told us that their measure of consumer confidence fell from 53.4 (1985=100) in September to 47.7 in October. Even worse, the part of the index that measures what consumers think about current conditions fell to 20.7 from 23.0 in September, the lowest since the 17.5 of February 1983.

Both these results are undoubtedly due to the high rate of unemployment. That was 9.8 percent in October compared to 10.4 percent in February 1983. Click here to read the full post and comment (Insights subscribers) »

Shoppers Are Happier and Have More Money to Spend

On June 26 the BEA released their “Personal Income and Outlay Report: May 2009” and it had lots of good news. Total personal income leapt by 1.4 percent or $167.1 billion in May from April to a record SAAR of $12.3 trillion.

Disposable personal income shot up by 1.6 percent in May from April or $178.1 billion to a new record of $11.1 trillion. Personal savings shot up to 6.9 percent of disposable personal income, the highest ever recorded in the fifty-year history of the data series. Click here to read the full post and comment (Insights subscribers) »

More Good News from Consumers

On April 17 the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary April index was reported at 61.9 (March 1966=100), up from 57.3 in March.  This was the highest since 70.3 last September.

This is one of many indicators suggesting that the US economy has stopped the “free fall” that began after the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15.  This would be great news if it holds.

Also, we got an upbeat report on unemployment claims on April 16.  Click here to read the full post and comment (Insights subscribers) »