Americans are feeling pretty confident about the future of the U.S. economy.
The November Consumer Confidence Index is hitting levels not seen since November of 2000, reflecting satisfaction for where things are and enthusiasm for where we are heading. While many economists had predicted a downturn for the month, we’re evidently not buying it.
“Consumer confidence is a barometer of the health of the U.S. economy,” Lynn Franco tells KTRH News. She’s Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, the group this issues the Consumer Confidence Index. “It gives us insight into how consumers feel about both current and future economic conditions.”
And she says we’re feeling pretty frisky. “We’ve got an extremely confident consumer, and that’s been the case for several months, almost a year. A lot of that is being driven by things we’ve seen in the labor market. That’s really the key and will be going forward as well.”
Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy.