DATA SNAP/Confidence -2: Jobs Mkt Assessment Dims
26 Feb 10:39
The Conference Board surveyed 5,000 households to compile its consumer
confidence index. The report is the second recent indication of a modest
decline in consumer confidence levels. As previously reported, the University
of Michigan's midmonth consumer sentiment index for February decreased to 90.9
from 93.0 in January.
Compared with the University of Michigan data, the Conference Board's
consumer confidence report is more influenced by the state of the labor market.
Ken Goldstein, economist at the Conference Board, said on CNBC following his
group's release that the ongoing saga of Enron may have been an important
factor weighing on consumers' state of mind in February.
Financial markets swooned after the report's release, with the major stock
indexes moving down and U.S. government bond prices reversing their earlier
selloff. The two-year note was unchanged at a yield of 2.96% at 10:15 a.m. EST
(1515 GMT).
"This data was obviously much weaker than expected, and on the margin it
adds some concern in the financial markets over consumer psychology," said
Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist with Morgan Stanley in Jersey City,
N.J.
The Conference Board survey found that optimism over the employment sector
also suffered. It said that 18.4% of consumers expect to see more jobs
available over the next half year, versus 18.9% who held the same view a month
ago. Those who expect jobs to be less plentiful rose to 19.3% in February,
from 18.0% the prior month. Those who said jobs are "hard to get" rose to 22.8%
from 22.5%.
The confidence data precedes testimony on Wednesday by Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan on the economy. Most economists expect Greenspan to
give a cautiously optimistic read on the economy's prospects, and to signal
that interest rates will likely remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
-By Michael S.Derby, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4192;
michael.derby@dowjones.com
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-26-02
10:39 AM |
