US consumer confidence
- Prior was 102.0 (revised to 101.0)
Details:
- Present situation index 148.5 vs 138.2 prior (revised to 136.5)
- Expectations 85.6vs 77.8 prior (revised to 77.4)
- 1 year Inflation 5.6% vs 5.7% prior
- Jobs hard-to-get 13.2 vs 15.4 prior
I warned in my morning note that this was likely to beat. It's an overdue catch-up to falling gasoline prices and the jump in US equities. We're still a long ways from the pre-covid range around 130 but these numbers are so skewed by politics that they're tough to believe. But the message here is that consumers felt a bit better ahead of Christmas, which is the most important time of year for retail sales. That should translate into a stronger Q4.
