Although the recession is supposedly a thing of the past and many analysts proclaiming that the United States economy is on the road to recovery, consumers apparently aren’t fully buying it. In fact, consumer confidence fell in September compared to the numbers in August, according to a consumer confidence survey.
The consumer confidence survey, which was conducted by private research group The Conference Board, should consumer confidence for September was 53.1. Following the August numbers coming in at 54.5, most experts believed that consumer confidence was to rise more than 2.5 points in September. That obviously didn’t happen.
The biggest culprit is …read more

Consumer sentiment is making marked improvements. Does this mean businesses could see more income soon?

News outlets reported that an increase in consumer confidence sent the stock market higher today. What exactly is consumer confidence and why is it so important?
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is supposed to reflect American sentiment regarding the economy
Sentiment ranges from pessimistic to optimistic (with neutral in between), and is gauged by the Conference Board. The Board surveys 5,000 households, for information on their saving and spending activities.
According to Wikipedia, forty percent of the index’s value is based on opinions about current conditions and the remaining sixty percent is based on future economic expectations.
The index is based on a benchmark value of …read more

The recession might have hit bottom.

According to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, American consumer confidence jumped in April from 26.9% to39.2%. Short-term outlook significantly improved, as far fewer people anticipate business orsening over the next six months. The percentage of people expecting the economy to improve is still low at 15.6%, but that number too is up from 9.6% in March.
People also had a more optimistic view of employment, according to the report. The percentage of people expecting the job outlook to improve saw a boost from just 7.3% to 13.9%, and fewer peopl expect to see the job market to get even worse …read more