Consumer confidence waned in January after spiking to a 15-year high in December, posting a 111.8 reading in The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®. The Expectations reading of the Index fell to 99.8, while the Present Situation reading rose to 129.7. December’s reading was 113.3.
“Consumer confidence decreased in January after reaching a 15-year high in December,” said Lynn Franco, director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. “The decline in confidence was driven solely by a less optimistic outlook for business conditions, jobs, and especially consumers’ income prospects.
“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, improved in January,” Franco said. “Despite the retreat in confidence, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the coming months.”
The percentage of consumers who believe business conditions are “good,” as defined by the Index, increased from 28.6 percent in December to 29.3 percent in January; the percentage of those who believe business conditions are “bad” decreased from 17.8 percent in December to 16.1 percent in January. The percentage of those who expect business conditions to improve decreased from 24.7 percent in December to 23.1 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect business conditions to worsen increased from 8.9 percent in December to 10.7 percent in January.
The percentage of consumers who believe jobs are “plentiful” increased from 26.0 percent in December to 27.4 percent in January, according to the Index; the percentage of those who believe jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 22.7 percent in December to 21.5 percent in January. The percentage of those who expect more jobs in the coming months decreased from 21.7 percent in December to 19.8 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect less jobs in the coming months was unchanged at 14.0 percent.
The percentage of consumers who expect higher income, as well, decreased from 21.5 percent in December to 18.0 percent in January; the percentage of those who expect less increased from 8.6 percent in December to 9.6 percent in January.
Source: The Conference Board
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