The Los Angeles Times reports that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers says that “consumer confidence rose in February for the sixth straight month ... with 29% of the respondents saying they expected the unemployment rate to go down ... The consumer sentiment index rose to 75.3 in February, up 0.4% from the previous month.”
There was, however, an interesting dichotomy. The story notes that “the percentage of people expressing optimism about the job market was the highest since 2004,” while “for the 41st straight month, the number of households saying their income had declined from the previous month exceeded those reporting greater income. And for the 28th consecutive month, a majority of respondents said they did not anticipate their household income increasing over the next year.”
There was, however, an interesting dichotomy. The story notes that “the percentage of people expressing optimism about the job market was the highest since 2004,” while “for the 41st straight month, the number of households saying their income had declined from the previous month exceeded those reporting greater income. And for the 28th consecutive month, a majority of respondents said they did not anticipate their household income increasing over the next year.”
- KC's View:
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It seems like when it comes to the economy, there’s always a “but.”
I’m not sure why confidence would be improving while income is seen as stagnant or declining. But while I firmly believe that our economy has some critical structural problems that could cause it to collapse if the wrong thing happens, I also tend to think that confidence is better than depression.
