The Conference
Board announced on Tuesday its U.S. consumer confidence index gained 2.1 points
to 111.7 in November from an upwardly revised 109.6 (from 108.7) in October.
Economists had forecast
the consumer confidence index to advance to 111.3.
The details of
the survey revealed that the present situation index (+4.8 points to 140.9 this
month) and the expectations index (+0.4 points to 92.3) both increased this
month.
Commenting on the results of the last survey, Dana M. Peterson, Chief
Economist at The Conference Board, noted that consumer confidence continued to
improve in November and reached the top of the range that has prevailed over
the past two years. She also revealed that November's gain was mainly driven by
more positive consumer assessments of the present situation, particularly
regarding the labor market. “Compared to October, consumers were also
substantially more optimistic about future job availability, which reached its
highest level in almost three years,” Peterson added. “Meanwhile, consumers'
expectations about future business conditions were unchanged and they were
slightly less positive about future income.”