An improved job market helped lift US consumer confidence slightly in January, but the outlook for the coming months remains cautious, a report said today.
Business research firm the Conference Board's survey showed the consumer confidence index at 110.3 from a revised 110 in December.
'This month's slight increase in confidence was solely the result of an improvement in the present situation index, fuelled primarily by a more favourable job market,' said the firm's consumer research chief Lynn Franco.
She said that consumers were not as optimistic about the future as they were in December. The report, seen as a gauge of consumer spending, was just slightly better than expected on Wall Street, where analysts had forecast a figure of 110.
The survey's present situation index rose to 133.9 from 130.5 in December. The expectations index of future activity fell to 94.5 from 96.3.
