(Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer sentiment eased slightly last week while hovering near its highest level since 2001, as job gains drive Americans’ confidence in their financial situation, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed Thursday.
Key Takeaways
Even with the decline, the main index is above its 12-month average of 51.6 and signals that confidence will probably support steady gains in consumer spending, the biggest segment of the economy. The survey period for the comfort gauge coincided with the release of strong figures in the February jobs report, in which the unemployment rate held at its lowest since 2000 and payrolls rose the most since July 2016.
Other Details
- Sentiment gauge among Americans earning more than $50,000 rose to 74.4, highest since January 2001; among lower-income Americans, index fell to 39
- Women’s gauge rose to 50.9, highest since August 2001
- Comfort index for Republicans rose to five-week high of 73.5; fell to five-week low of 49.2 among Democrats
- Sentiment among consumers in the South rose; other three regions dipped
To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in Washington at shagan9@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Scott Lanman, Randall Woods
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