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Although inflation is going down, US consumer confidence about the future of the economy begins to decrease.
This is shown by a new survey known as the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index that measured consumer confidence in the country at 107.1 last January.
The data is lower than that registered last December of 109 points and was also below the expectations of analysts consulted by Refinitiv, according to a report published by CNN.
However, in current terms, consumer confidence in their current situation is better compared to what was measured in December past.
This is explained by the 150.9 points that the report reported, against the 147.4 points of last December, which means that consumers they felt more confident because of the conditions of abundant seasonal employment.
Confidence in the future crumbles
But the positive outlook for consumers does not appear to last beyond the start of the year, as survey results show that consumers they are wary of their economic situation in the next six months.
This was stated by the Conference Board’s senior director of economics, Ataman Ozyildirim, who explained that the expectations index plummeted to 77.8 points in Januaryfrom 83.4 points last December.
According to the metrics, when the measurements drop below 80 points, they show that consumers expect or prepare for a recessionaccording to the Conference Board.
“They also expect business conditions to worsen in the short term. Despite this, consumers expect their income to remain relatively stable in the coming months,” Ozyildirim said.
Regarding expected expenses, the report indicates that consumer plans to buy vehicles or appliances for your home they were flat in January compared to last December.
However, this was not the case for home purchases, where fewer consumers plan to buy a propertyjust when the market predicts that it could start to recover.
This Tuesday, the Federal Reserve (Fed) recognized, for the first time since March 2022, that inflation in the United States has begun to cool, however, which indicated that it continues outside the 2% target range.
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