Lost amid the antisemitic accusations against President Donald Trump, U.S. consumer confidence rose again this month, hitting a new 18-year high.
The consumer confidence index climbed to 137.9 in October, up from 135.3 in September. Both are the highest since September 2000.
“Wages have been going up. Incomes are up. Housing values for the most part are up. The stock market has been volatile in October, but overall it's higher. And people feel there are a lot of job opportunities out there,” says Jordan Goodman, "America's Money Answers Man."
Typically this would favor the sitting president and party of power in a midterm election.
“I think you've got very different dynamics this time, but Republicans have not even been running a strong economy, they've been running on other kinds of issues,” says Goodman. “Normally it would help,but I think in this case it's not going to help as much.”
Unemployment meanwhile, has dropped to 3.7 percent, the lowest since 1969.
“As long as the employment market remains strong. As long as housing remains in pretty good shape. Interest rates are still rising, are still relatively low. So the combination of factors makes people confident and therefore they spend, making the economy do better.”