By Jorge Antonio Vázquez Buendía
Mar 27, 2024, 10:45 AM EDT
The Conference Board, the economic think tank that provides insight into what’s to come, reported the Consumer Confidence Index at 104.7, essentially unchanged from a downwardly revised 104.8 in February.
“Consumers’ assessment of the current situation improved in March, but they also became more pessimistic about the future,” said Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board.
“Confidence increased among consumers 55 and older, but deteriorated for those under 55. On the other hand, consumers in the $50,000 to $99,999 income group reported lower confidence in March, while confidence improved slightly in all other income groups,” Peterson added.
However, The Conference Boar noted that over the past six months, confidence has been moving sideways with no real trend up or down, either by income or age group.
Peterson added: “Consumers remain concerned about high price levels, which dominated written responses. Written responses from March showed an increase in concerns about food and gas prices, but overall complaints about gas prices have been trending downward. In fact, average 12-month inflation expectations were 5.3%, little changed from February’s four-year low of 5.2%.”
According to the report, recession fears continued to trend downward both in written responses and as measured by consumers’ perceived probability of a recession in the United States in the next year. Meanwhile, consumers expressed more concern about the US political environment compared to previous months.
The Current Situation Index, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, rose to 151.0 in March from 147.6 in February.
Meanwhile, the expectations index, based on consumers’ near-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, fell to 73.8, down from 76.3 last month. An Expectations Index reading below 80 often indicates an upcoming recession.
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