U.S. Consumer Sentiment Shows Significant Improvement In November
Written on November 10, 2011 by Wiley Hayden
– Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has seen a notable improvement in the month of November, according to a report released by Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday, with the consumer sentiment index jumping to a five-month high.
The report showed that the consumer sentiment rose to 64.2 in November from the final October reading of 60.9. Economists had been expecting the index to show a much more modest increase to 61.5.
With the much bigger than expected monthly increase, the index rose to its highest level since coming in at 71.5 in June.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, “While still at sluggish levels, confidence has stabilized for now and we’ll soon see what that means for holiday sales as we’re just weeks away from Black Friday.”
A significant improvement in the outlook for the economy contributed to the increase by the headline index, with the index of consumer expectations jumping to 56.2 in November from 51.8 in October.
The current conditions index showed a more modest increase, edging up to 76.6 in November from 75.1 in the previous month.
The report also showed that one-year inflation expectations were unchanged at 3.2 percent, while five-year inflation expectations slipped to 2.6 percent from 2.7 percent, hitting an over two-year low.
“Helping to keep inflation expectations relatively muted are gasoline prices, which continue to lag 14% below the highs reached in May,” Boockvar said. “With crude though approaching $100 again, gasoline prices will likely start heading higher again.”
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