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Economy Title: Confidence in U.S. Rises to Highest Level Since 2008 April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. consumers increased in April to the highest level since September 2008 as Americans became more upbeat about the labor market. The Conference Board’s confidence index rose more than forecast, to 57.9 from 52.3 in March, according to the New York- based private research group. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a rise to 53.5. A measure of expectations was the highest since 2007. Pessimism is starting to abate after employers added workers to payrolls in three of the last five months. More job growth will be needed to spark bigger gains in confidence, incomes and spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. “Consumers are feeling better about the labor market,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, who forecast the index to rise to 57. “If they are to spend more, they need to have jobs.” Economists forecast confidence would rise from a previously reported 52.5, according to the survey of 78 projections in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from 48 to 57. Stocks, which fell on growing concern Europe’s debt crisis is spreading, trimmed losses after the report. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.3 percent to 1,207.94 at 10:15 a.m. in New York, after dropping as much as 0.6 percent earlier. Michigan Sentiment The Conference Board’s report stands in contrast to a preliminary survey by Reuters/University of Michigan issued earlier this month, which showed sentiment unexpectedly dropped as Americans fretted about jobs and health care. Another report today showed home prices rose less than forecast in February from a year earlier, a sign the housing recovery will take time to develop. The S&P/Case-Shiller home- price index of property values in 20 cities increased 0.6 percent from February 2009. The Conference Board’s measure of present conditions increased to 28.6 this month, the highest since May, from 25.2 in March. The gauge of expectations for the next six months jumped to 77.4, the highest since October 2007, from 70.4. The share of consumers who said jobs are plentiful rose to 4.8 percent, the highest level since May. Those who said jobs are hard to get decreased to 45 percent from 46.3 percent. Employment Expectations The share expecting more jobs to become available rose to seven-month high of 18 percent from 14.1 percent. The proportion of people who expect their incomes to rise over the next six months dropped to 10.3 percent from 10.8 percent. While the Conference Board’s confidence measure has improved, it’s still less than the 97 average for the most recent expansion, which ended in December 2007. The labor market is showing signs of improving. Employers in March added 162,000 jobs, the most in three years, Labor Department figures showed April 2. The unemployment rate may still be slow to decline as the improving economy entices more people to re-enter the labor force. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg earlier this month project the unemployment rate, at 9.7 percent in March, will end the year at 9.4 percent. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress on April 14 that high unemployment and weak construction were among the “significant restraints” on the pace of growth. At their March 16 meeting, central bankers said economic conditions are likely to warrant “exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.” Spending More Americans are beginning to spend more as well. Consumer purchases probably rose at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the first three months of this year, more than double the fourth- quarter pace and the most in three years, according to a Bloomberg survey ahead of an April 30 report. The Commerce Department’s advanced figures on first-quarter gross domestic product will probably also show the nation’s economy grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, raised its annual forecast after reporting second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates. “We’re benefiting from a consumer who’s feeling just a little bit better,” Troy Alstead, chief financial officer of Starbucks, said in a telephone interview after the Seattle-based company announced earnings on April 21. Whirlpool Corp., the world’s largest appliance maker, yesterday boosted its forecast for the year and said sales for the first quarter were 20 percent higher than a year earlier.
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#1. To: Dwarf (#0)
Well now if an American Industrial Giant like Starbucks is starting to feel their "oats".........welllllll......that's enough to convince me all this unemployment stuff and fear-mongering over "government everything" and a few piddly extra orders of magnitude increases in debt our kids will have to pay is really just a bunch of nothing:):):) Where's my obama yardsign? >sarc....what kind of a perpetual dumbfuck must the dwarfs of this site be to post such bloviation??
Death to everybody who does not get outta my way. And the latest Eisteinian revelation from LF's resident Barack poodleboy...AKA Admiral Dwarf who has "shot at living things"...."Yeah, and Oswald was a right winger, too. He was... war posted on 2010-03-22 20:12:36
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