WASHINGTON — Wall Street may be worried but consumers aren’t, according to data released Tuesday.
A gauge of consumer confidence advanced in January, topping forecasts. The Conference Board said its confidence index rose to 80.7 in January from 77.5 in December, beating the 77.1 seen in a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll.
A component measuring the present situation rose to 79.1 from 75.3 and the expectations index rose to 81.9 from 79.
The index, which has shot up from a 58.4 level in January 2013, still hasn’t been in triple-digit territory since Aug. 2007, a few months before the onset of the Great Recession.
But there are signs consumers are beginning to see noticeable improvements in the economy and the jobs market in particular. The percentage of those who say jobs are “hard to get” — 32.6% in January — hasn’t been this low in over five years.
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Source: Steve Goldstein (www.marketwatch.com)
