U.S. Consumer Confidence Continues To Improve In January

(RTTNews) - Consumer confidence in the U.S. improved for the second consecutive month in January, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday, with the consumer confidence index rising by more than expected during the month.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 80.7 in January from a downwardly revised 77.5 in December.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to edge up to 79.0 from the 78.1 originally reported for the previous month.

The report showed that the present situation index rose to 79.1 in January from 75.3 in December, reflecting a continued improvement in consumers' assessment of overall present-day conditions.

Consumers saying business conditions are "good" rose to 21.5 percent from 20.2 percent, while those claiming conditions are "bad" edged down to 22.8 percent from 23.2 percent.

The assessment of the labor market also improved, as those saying jobs are "plentiful" ticked up to 12.7 percent from 11.9 percent, while those saying jobs are "hard to get" dipped to 32.6 percent from 32.9 percent.

The Conference Board said consumer expectations also saw continued improvement in January after jumping sharply in December. The expectations index rose to 81.8 from 79.0.

Consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months remained unchanged at 17.4 percent, while those anticipating conditions to worsen fell to 12.1 percent from 13.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the outlook for the labor market was mixed. While consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead fell to 15.4 percent from 17.1 percent, those anticipating fewer jobs also dropped to 18.3 percent from 19.4 percent.

The report also said the proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase rose to 15.8 percent from 13.9 percent, while those anticipating a decrease in their incomes fell to 13.6 percent from 14.3 percent

Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said, "All in all, confidence appears to be back on track and rising expectations suggest the economy may pick up some momentum in the months ahead."

On Friday, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan are scheduled to release their revised report on consumer sentiment in January. Economists expect the consumer sentiment index to be upwardly revised to 81.0 from the preliminary reading of 80.4.