Looking
ahead, however, consumers are not as optimistic as they were in
December. All in all, the Index suggests a moderate improvement
in the pace of growth in early 2007.
Lynn Franco, Director, Conference Board Consumer Research
Center
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative
sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The cutoff date for January's
preliminary results was January 23rd.
"This month's slight increase in confidence was solely the
result [a] more favorable job market," says Lynn Franco,
Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.
"Looking ahead, however, consumers are not as optimistic as they
were in December. All in all, the Index suggests a moderate
improvement in the pace of growth in early 2007."
Consumers' overall assessment of current-day conditions was more
upbeat than in December. Those claiming conditions are "good"
increased to 28.1 percent from 27.4 percent. Those saying
conditions are "bad," however, rose to 16.5 percent from 14.9
percent. Labor market conditions also improved from last month.
Consumers saying jobs are "hard to get" declined to 19.7 percent
from 21.3 percent. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" increased
to 29.9 percent from 27.6 percent in December.
Consumers' outlook for the next six months was less optimistic
than in December. Those anticipating business conditions to
worsen edged up to 8.0 percent from 7.8 percent. Those expecting
business conditions to get better decreased slightly to 16.2
percent from 16.7 percent.
The outlook for the labor market was mixed. Consumers expecting
more jobs to become available in the coming months edged up to
14.0 percent from 13.9 percent, while those anticipating fewer
jobs edged up to 15.7 percent from 15.5 percent. The proportion
of consumers expecting their incomes to increase in the months
ahead declined to 19.8 percent from 21.4 percent in December.
