- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ |
US consumers slightly more hopeful about inflation, economy: data
American consumers were feeling less confident in January amid elevated prices and a Covid-19 resurgence, but their views of the economy and inflation were growing more positive, a survey released Tuesday showed.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index declined to 113.8 in January, less than two points below where it was in December but above analysts' forecasts, with the data showing Americans feeling better about the economy today but less certain about its short-term future.
The survey indicated a slight downturn in consumers' expectations for inflation amid a surge in prices across the United States.
However the Conference Board's senior director of economic indicators, Lynn Franco, noted "both confidence and consumer spending may continue to be challenged by rising prices and the ongoing pandemic."
The share of respondents indicating business conditions were "good" ticked up to 21.1 percent, while those viewing them as "bad" fell to 25.6 percent. The changes for both were under two points.
The share of consumers expecting business conditions to worsen in the next six months rose slightly to 19 percent, while 23.8 percent expect them to improve, down from 25.3 percent in December.
The share of consumers describing jobs as plentiful fell slightly as well but the survey noted its current 55.1 percent level was "historically strong."
Meanwhile, respondents' expectations for the inflation rate 12 months ahead fell to 6.8 percent, its lowest level since September.
"Consumer confidence will remain highly sensitive to health conditions, inflation and labor market headwinds in the near term," particularly with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 causing a renewed wave of infections nationwide, Mahir Rasheed of Oxford Economics said.
He predicted a rebound in the second quarter after a slowdown in the remainder of the first quarter.
O.Bulka--BTB