NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index gained to 60.6 in January from an upwardly revised 53.3 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 54.3.
The December index was originally reported as 52.5.
The present situation index jumped to 31.0 from an upwardly revised 24.9, originally reported as 23.5, while the expectations index increased to 80.3 from an upwardly revised 72.3 last month, originally reported as 71.9.
“Consumers have begun the year in better spirits. As a result, the index is now near levels not seen since last spring (May 2010 62.7),” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers rated business and labor market conditions more favorably and expressed greater confidence that the economy will continue to expand and generate more jobs in the months ahead. Income expectations are also more positive. Although pessimists still outnumber optimists, the gap has narrowed.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 9.8% of respondents in January, an increase from 7.7% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” fell to 40.4% from 40.5%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year grew to 19.0% from 16.8%, while 11.3% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 11.8% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” climbed to 5.2% in January from 4.2% in December, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 43.4% this survey from 46.0%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, rose to 16.0% from 14.2%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available slid to 17.5% from 19.2%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were better, with 11.4% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, up from the prior month's 9.9%, while 15.3% expect their income to decrease, down from 16.9% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months increased to 2.2% from 1.9%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car increased to 5.1% from 4.6%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (22.3% vs. 25.8%).
Fewer respondents than last month (36.9% vs. 39.3%) expect to take a vacation in the next six months, but more said they would stay in the U.S. rather than leave the country. Cars rather than airplanes were the preferred mode of travel, by a 19.2%-14.2% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for The Conference Board by TNS.
