Posted on 02/23/2010 8:06:58 AM PST by TexasNative2000
NEW YORK – Americans' outlook on the economy went into relapse in February. Rising job worries sent a key barometer of confidence to its lowest point in 10 months, raising concerns about the economic recovery.
The Conference Board said Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index fell almost 11 points to 46 in February, down from a revised 56.5 in January. Analysts were expecting only a slight decrease to 55. It was the lowest level since the index recorded a 40.8 reading in April 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Once people saw what the future according to Obama was going to be, confidence plummeted.
Leading indicators were 0.3 and now this. Expect possible double dip in fall.
Probably a good indicator of his future....Mr.Big Gov’t Stimulator!
WHAT RECOVERY?!?!
Gee. I wonder why........
Hopey-Changey stikes again.
Thats on the top of the prayer list, believe me.
Like impeachment maybe.
what about “unexpectedly”????
Re: Obama’s budget causes drop in consumer confidence
Perhaps, but let me suggest additional major causes:
1. Regulatory Uncertainty - businesses and consumers both still have no answer on healthcare, cap & tax, extension of tax cuts which expired 12/31/2009, etc, etc.
2. They are now trying to cover Xmas credit card debt and trying to find the money to cover the April 15th tax bill
3. They are preparing FASFA’s to seek college tuition help
4. They see Zero float a new triangulated healthcare bill
Oh, and Gas now projected to $3/gallon and no new jobs.
That bears repeating ... No New Jobs
The CPI is a joke (see http://www.shadowstats.com/ for real stats) and the unemployment number is still near 22%.
I needed to clarify lest someone get the wrong idea.
Almost every single person I know who has lost their job the last year is still unemployed. Those that have found jobs are at a level significantly below where they were in their last job. And this is the Seattle area.
Where was this recovery people talked about? I know CA is on the bleeding edge of this whole thing. Is that where it’s turned around?
It bugs me that they report these numbers in such small windows, without context, and without much of a view on the overall trend. It’s like day-trading with economic numbers. It’s worse with upticks, as they get reported with all the breathlessness of a cure for cancer, and yet the numbers always get revised downward later, sometimes significantly, and that combined with the inevitable lower numbers next time just snowballs. Consumer confidence should be reported not only month-over-month, but with a three or four month sliding window too, so people understand better what the reporter is saying. Same goes for employment numbers. Commodity and stock prices are different, so they should be reported day-over-day, but not other numbers.
I know. We can’t say what is on our minds anymore. Some Hippy POS will have us carted off to the gallows.
I just don’t want to get banned.
Re: Context
WSJ Reports “U.S. consumer confidence plunged more than 10 points in February, raising concerns about the outlook for consumer spending, according to a report released Tuesday.
Separately, U.S. home prices fell in December but were up when adjusted for seasonal factors, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes, as yearly declines continued to ease.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer confidence declined to 46.0 this month, from a revised 56.5 in January, first reported as 55.9. The February reading was far below the 54.8 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The present situation index, a gauge of consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, fell to 19.4 this month from 25.2 in January, originally reported as 25.0. The February index was the lowest in 27 years.
Consumer expectations for economic activity over the next six months dropped to 63.8 from a revised 77.3, first reported as 76.5.
“Fewer consumers [are] anticipating an improvement in business conditions and the job market over the next six months,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Consumer also remain extremely pessimistic about their income prospects.”
Sentiment about the current labor markets took a direct hit in February, even as government data for January showed some improvement in the jobless rate. The percentage of respondents who think jobs are “hard to get” rose to 47.7% in February from January’s 46.5%. And those who think jobs are “plentiful” fell to 3.6% from 4.4%.
The employment outlook did not fare any better. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead fell to 13.4% from 15.8%, while the proportion expecting fewer jobs jumped to 24.6% in February from 18.9% in January.
The report also showed 17.2% of respondents expect their incomes to fall over the next six months, and only 9.5% expect an increase.
“The combination of earnings and job anxieties is likely to continue to curb spending,” said Ms. Franco.”
I would bet real money he will not finish his first term. I (and a lot of folks here) was saying this last summer. I am more sure now. It could be anything from assassination, the birthers getting their way, to an aneurysm.
But I firmly expect it. This simply cannot go on without people at a very high level taking matters into their own hands, assuming the aneurysm thing doesn’t happen.
We need some more hopey changey up in here!
Well stated.
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