Consumer Comfort Reached Seven-Week High on U.S. Economic Views

(Bloomberg) -- Americans last week started feeling much more confident about the economy, pushing the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index to a seven-week high and partly reversing an early-summer slump, figures released Thursday showed.

Key Takeaways

Stock-market indexes at or near records, robust job growth and news showing stronger second-quarter growth probably helped drive up sentiment about the economy. The bull market in equities was greeted by more optimism among wealthier Americans as sentiment climbed for those making at least $75,000 a year, the comfort data showed. A pickup in confidence has the potential to spur spending, which cooled at the start of the third quarter.

Other Details

• After recovering from a five-month low three weeks ago, the national economy subindex is now 3.1 points above its average for the year and 14.3 points above its long-term average
• Ratings of the national economy were higher in the West than in the rest of the country; consumers in the West reported the second-highest comfort reading in a decade
• Positive sentiment about the economy was also higher among Republicans at 59.8 percent than among Democrats at 43.6

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Randall Woods