U.S. December Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Rises to 60.1
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By Courtney Schlisserman
Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded this month from the lowest level in 28 years as gasoline prices dropped and inflation expectations receded, giving temporary relief to household budgets.
The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for December rose to 60.1 from 55.3 in November. The reading compared with the 59.1 preliminary figure reported on Dec. 12.
Eleven straight months of job losses and other hits to household wealth, including declining home values, are weighing on Americans’ attitudes about the economy. A fall in energy prices is helping to sooth U.S. consumers, who last quarter cut spending at a 3.8 percent annual rate.
“We’re going to see more of the huge reduction in oil and gas prices translating into consumer buying power in some areas,” Robert Stein, senior economist at First Trust Advisors in Lisle, Illinois, said before the report.
Economists forecast the sentiment gauge would reach 58.8, according to the median of 50 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 57 to 60.2.
The University of Michigan’s index of consumer expectations six months from now, which more closely predicts the direction of consumer spending, increased to 54 from 53.9 in November.
A measure of current conditions, which reflects Americans’ perceptions of their financial situation and whether it is a good time to buy expensive items like cars, gained to 69.5 to from 57.5.
Consumers in today’s report projected an inflation rate of 1.7 percent over the next 12 months, compared with 2.9 percent in the November survey. Over the next five years, the figures tracked by Federal Reserve policy makers, Americans expected a 2.6 percent rate of inflation, compared with 2.9 percent last month. |
