A report has shown that US consumers began the year with much more confidence in the economy than expected, seeing a recovery gaining steam and expecting more jobs will be created.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index, which had slipped in December, rose in January to 60.6, its highest level since May. The confidence reading was much better than the average forecast of a slight rise to 53.5.
'Consumers have begun the year in better spirits,' Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's consumer research centre, said in a statement. She noted that the index was now near levels not seen since the May 2010 reading of 62.7.
'Consumers rated business and labour market conditions more favourably and expressed greater confidence that the economy will continue to expand and generate more jobs in the months ahead,' she said. She added that, although pessimists still outnumbered optimists, the gap between the two had narrowed.
The research firm's monthly index was based on a survey of 5,000 US households up to January 18.
